The stage is set for yet another edition of the Commonwealth Games, which will take place from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, Scotland.
India are sending a 125-member contingent for the multi-sport event, headlined by top athletes like Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, Sreeshankar Murali, Jaismine Lamboria and more.
While the CWG remains one of the prestigious multi-sport events for India, the 2026 edition is heavily truncated, missing out on a number of key sports which had featured in the previous editions. It means that some of India's star athletes will not be present and it will have an effect on India's overall medal tally.
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming Games:
What sports have been included at CWG 2026?
The CWG 2026 will feature 10 sports taking place across four venues in Glasgow. This is a significant reduction from the 19 sports which featured at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, 3x3 basketball, lawns bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics, judo and boxing are the ten sports included in the programme. Along with these, six para events will take place in athletics, 3x3 basketball, bowls, track cycling, swimming and powerlifting.
The sports which have been dropped include badminton, beach volleyball, T20 cricket, diving, hockey, mountain biking, rhythmic gymnastics, road cycling, rugby sevens, squash, table tennis and para table tennis, triathlon and para triathlon and wrestling.
In fact, this edition will have the lowest number of sports since the 1994 Games.
Why were the above sports dropped from this year's edition?
The reason is high costs and feasibility issues. Earlier, the Australian state of Victoria was supposed to host the Games, but they withdrew due to increasing costs. Glasgow, which was the host city of the 2014 Games, stepped in at short notice but could only promise to make arrangements for a limited number of sports.
Hence, only 10 sports across four venues.
Read more - Explained: Why India's medal-heavy sports like badminton, wrestling, hockey are missing from CWG 2026
How will this affect India's medal chances?
Heavily. Last time in Birmingham, India won 61 medals out of which 30 came from events which will not feature in Glasgow.
Read more - Commonwealth Games 2026 axes nine sports: What does this mean for India?
Who are the athletes represent India at the CWG 2026?
A total of 125 athletes will represent the country at the Games. The squad includes 77 male and 48 women athletes across sports disciplines, including para sports.
Athletics has the greatest number of representatives with 32 names (10 women and 22 men), followed by boxing (14), judo (14) and weightlifting (12).
Here's a look at every single of them.
Full list of India's contingent going to Commonwealth Games 2026
Who are the Indian athletes to look forward to at the Games?
Despite the absence of key sports, Indian fans have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming days.
There is of course Neeraj, who needs no introduction. The two-time Olympic medallist will battle it out against current Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan, Sri Lanka's 2026 world-leading throw holder Rumesh Pathirage and others for the gold. Neeraj didn't participate in the 2022 edition due to an injury but back in 2018, he won the gold medal.
There's Sreeshankar who's a gold contender in long jump, having won the silver last time in Birmingham. High jumper Sarvesh Kushare is also in fine form having finished third at Monaco Diamond League while also recently breaking the national record with a 2.31m clearance at the Inter-State Championships.
India is also sending a big contingent in boxing with the likes of Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) being the favourites for the gold.
In Weightlifting, there's Mirabai Chanu who will be keen to win her fourth CWG medal and a third consecutive gold medal after coming on top in 2018 and 2022.
What does the schedule look like?
As it happens with multi-sport events, the schedule is packed with events starting from 2 pm IST and going on till late night.
Here are some of the key events:
July 26: Mirabai Chanu in women's 49kg final at 6:30 pm
July 27: Sarvesh Kushare and Adarsh Ram in men's high jump final between 11 pm and 2:15 am.
July 29: Murali Sreeshankar and Lokesh Satyanathan in men's long jump final between 11 pm and 2:15 am, subject to qualification.
July 29: Parul Choudhary in women's 3000m steeplechase final between 11 pm and 2:15 am.
July 30: Parul Choudhary in women's 5000m final between 11 pm and 2:15 am.
July 30: Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh in men's javelin throw qualification between 2:30 pm and 8 pm.
July 31: Neeraj Chopra, Yash Vir Singh and Rohit Yadav in men's javelin throw final between 11 pm and 2:15 am, subject to qualification.
August 1 and 2: Boxing, lawn bowls and judo finals.
We'll also have a day-by-day full schedule along with the timings right here: Commonwealth Games 2026: Full schedule of India's contingent
When is the opening ceremony of the CWG 2026?
The opening ceremony will take place on July 23 at Glasgow's Hydro, which is a multi-purpose indoor arena. It will start around 8 pm local time which means around 12:30 am IST (July 24).
What are the venues for the Games?
As mentioned earlier, all the events will take place across only four venues -- Scotstoun Stadium, Scottish Event Campus (SEC), the Glasgow International Arena and Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
How was India's campaign in the previous edition?
India won 61 medals at the Birmingham Games, which included 22 gold. Sharath Kamal was India's most successful athlete, having won four (3 gold and 1 silver) medals in table tennis.
Indian athletes saw plenty of success in wrestling (12 medals), weightlifting (10), athletics (8), badminton (6) and boxing (7).
Here's are the highlights of India's campaign in 2022 Games.
Where will the it be shown on TV?
The CWG 2026 will be shown LIVE on Sony Sports Network and will be streamed on Sony LIV app and website.