What are the big events to watch out for in 2024 as an Indian sports follower?
The most prominent answer to this is the biggest one there is - the Olympics. 2024 is the all-important Olympic year with the Paris Summer Games and Paralympics in August and October.
It's the fourth straight year with a major multi-sport event, after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the Asian Games in 2023. That means, of course, that there will be plenty of high-stake sporting action in the first half of the year as athletes try to qualify and prepare for Paris.
There is the all-important AFC Asian Cup for the men's senior national football team in January, and for international football fans the Euros, Copa America and AFCON. There's also more cricket World Cups for men and women. Annual competitions like the Hockey Pro League, ISSF World Cups and BWF tour events will continue and have not been mentioned specifically.
Here is ESPN India's handy guide on what to watch out for in 2024:
AFC Asian Cup: 12 January - 10 February
Head coach Igor Stimac may downplay the import of this competition, but it's the biggest international tournament for Indian football right now. It's also a chance for Sunil Chhetri to add to his goal tally as he closes in on a century.
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was pushed to 2024 because the hosts changed from China to Qatar. Now, in the middle of the ISL season, it'll be a test of the Indian team's fitness and mentality. The Indian squad is comprised of players from ISL clubs, and the core remains the same that Stimac has worked with over the past couple of years.
Also, keep an eye on Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at the Africa Cup of Nations (13 Jan - 11 Feb)
Olympics qualifiers: through first half of the year
There will be several events in the first half of the year for Indians to seal their Paris Olympic tickets.
For instance, the Asian Olympic shooting qualifiers will be in January, as will the qualifiers for the women's hockey team. The final archery qualifier will take place in Antalya in June, and the badminton tour events will all help in achieving the qualification points.
There will also be qualifying tournaments in wrestling (Asian Championships in April, and World Qualifiers in May), which could see more Indians qualify, even as the WFI remains suspended.
Paris Olympics: 26 July - 11 August
The big one.
In the previous edition Tokyo, India had achieved their best-ever Olympic medal tally result with 7 and had Neeraj Chopra's gold being the crowning glory. In Paris, India would aim to touch the double-digit mark, with the reigning Olympic and world champion in javelin throw looking to defend his crown.
Paris Paralympics: 28 - 8 September
Tokyo was India's most successful Paralympic Games as well with 19 medals (5 golds 8 silvers and 6 bronzes). This time, India's para-athletes will want to reach even higher.
The hope for both the Games in Paris is not baseless: it's founded on the sustained excellence that India's athletes have shown at the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023. Both contingents crossed the 100-medal mark in Hangzhou and the experience should only help in Paris.
Chess Candidates Tournament: 2 - 25 April
The Candidates is an eight-player tournament held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship match against the defending champion -- Ding Liren in men and Ju Wenjun in women.
It has a special interest for India this time; there are 3 Indians in the men's lineup - R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi and 2 in the women's - R Vaishali and Koneru Humpy. After their exploits in 2023, one of them could well be in line to play the World Championship.
Thomas & Uber Cup: 28 April to 5 May
The Thomas Cup for men and the Uber Cup for women are badminton's world team championships, held every two years. The upcoming edition in Chengdu, China will be a special one as the Indian men's badminton team are the reigning champions, looking to defend the title they won in memorable fashion in 2022. They narrowly lost to China in the Asian Games final last year, and it'll make for an interesting tussle.
The Badminton Asia Team Championships will be held earlier in February in Malaysia, which will be a precursor to the bigger event.
The BWF Tour, as always, is a packed calendar from January to December with the race to Paris ending in May.
T20 World Cup (men): 4-30 June and T20 World Cup (women): Sept-Oct
Both the men and women will play T20 World Cups in 2024.
The men will play in the United States and West Indies in June - the first ever ICC World event to be played in US. The women will play a T20 World Cup for the second straight year, this time scheduled to be in Bangladesh between September and October.
Euros: Jun 14 - Jul 14/ Copa America: Jun 20 - Jul 14
World champions Lionel Messi and Argentina back on field for a big trophy. Cristiano Ronaldo looking for a possibly triumphant swansong. Need we say more about either the Copa America or the Euros?