CRPF 84 Battalion opens Jammu and Kashmir’s first pickleball court

Jammu and Kashmir got its first pickleball court inside a CRPF tactical headquarters, a debut that makes Boom Ramban an immediate test case for whether security-led sports infrastructure can create a real playing culture, not just a ceremonial first.

The court was inaugurated on April 10 at the 84 Battalion’s tactical headquarters in Boom Ramban, with the opening tied to Shaurya Diwas and Valour Day observances. N. Gayabati Devi, the First Lady of 84 Battalion CRPF, opened the facility alongside Commandant N. Ranbir Singh and Second in Command Vikram Singh, with officers, personnel, families and media present at the headquarters.

For the battalion, the message went well beyond one new surface and a fresh set of lines. Ranbir Singh has stressed that physical fitness is a top priority for CRPF personnel, whose duties leave limited room for recreation. The battalion has already built multiple modern gyms and other sports facilities, and the pickleball court extends that effort into one of the fastest-rising racket sports in the region.

That matters because pickleball is no longer a fringe import in India or Asia. India has grown from just 200 courts to more than 1,200 by mid-2024, a surge that has come alongside a wave of new facilities opening every few weeks in major cities. In Asia, the momentum is even more striking in awareness terms: a 2024 survey found pickleball awareness in Malaysia jumped 132 percent year over year, while Vietnam climbed 152 percent. Other industry data puts growth in some Southeast Asian territories at about 60 percent annually.

Jammu and Kashmir now enters that expansion story with a court that sits inside a security-sensitive setting, where sports often carry more social weight than scoreboard value. If the Boom Ramban court sees regular use by personnel, families and young players around the area, it could become more than the region’s first pickleball address. It could become the foothold that gives the sport a lasting place in a part of India where every new public facility is also a measure of access, morale and daily life.