From Grassroots to Elite Sport: A Critical Review of Talent Identification and Development in India

Background: Talent identification and development are central to athletes' progression from grassroots participation to sustained elite performance. In India, research has generated useful evidence concerning athlete characteristics, performance assessment and development support, but evidence across the complete athlete pathway remains fragmented. Objective: This review critically examines how sporting potential is identified, selected, developed, retained and progressed from grassroots to elite sport in India, with attention to physical, physiological, technical, psychological, maturation-related and environmental factors. Methods: A critical review design with a scoping and thematic approach was used. Indian studies and relevant international literature concerning talent identification, talent development, athlete pathways, maturation, development environments and junior-to-senior transition were synthesised. The review emphasises the distinction between descriptive performance profiling and prospective prediction of future elite performance. Results: Indian evidence is weighted toward cross-sectional or stage-specific assessment, particularly anthropometric, physical and physiological profiling. Indian sports-science literature also highlights the importance of integrated support and longitudinal athlete tracking. International evidence challenges deterministic early selection and emphasizes maturation, context, development environment and probabilistic estimation of potential. Conclusion: Indian talent identification should be conceptualized as an iterative, multidimensional and longitudinal process embedded within an appropriate development environment. A grassroots-to-elite framework is proposed integrating broad detection, multidimensional identification, individualised development, sports-science support, repeated monitoring and targeted junior-to-senior transition support. The framework is conceptual and requires empirical validation.