The captain of India’s seven-man team for the Hong Kong Sixes 2026, which will take place from October 30 to November 1, 2026, is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The seamer, who has made 229 appearances for his country in 21 Tests, 121 ODIs, and 87 T20Is over his career, is making a significant comeback to representative cricket with this selection.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named captain of India’s for the Hong Kong Sixes 2026
India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates are all in Pool C. Third-place teams move on to the Bowl competition, second-place teams move on to the Plate semi-finals, and pool winners move on to the Cup semifinals. Each innings lasts six overs, with one chosen bowler allowed to send down two of those overs. Each side is fielded with six men.
It is challenging to read India’s record at the resurrected competition. Since the Hong Kong Sixes made a comeback in 2024, they have lost nine of their ten games in both tournaments, crashing out at the group stage each time. They lost all three of their games and were last in Pool C in the 2025 competition. In 2005, they won the competition’s lone title.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar plays in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He removed Jason Holder and Sai Sudharsan as RCB defeated Gujarat Titans to win the IPL trophy in May 2026. That performance shown that he can still perform well under duress in short-format cricket at the age of 36.
He is by far the team’s most seasoned player with 229 international caps. His ability to move the ball and hit the correct lengths gives India a dependable bowling option in the six-over format, when every delivery has greater weight. His franchise-level leadership expertise enhances the captain’s role even more.
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Pakistan, who defeated Kuwait in the final to win their sixth title in the 2025 Hong Kong Sixes, is India’s most difficult group assignment. The biggest barrier between India and a top-of-pool finish is Pakistan, who are the reigning champions.
India needs to win Pool C in order to advance to the Cup semi-finals, but they haven’t been able to do it in either of the tournament’s two editions since its reintroduction. They would instead advance to the Plate semifinals if they placed second. Even getting past the pool stage would be a significant improvement for this team, since they had only won one of their previous ten group-stage games. But this must be among the strongest teams they have ever fielded in the history of the competition.
India full squad for Hong Kong Sixes 2026
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Captain), Krunal Pandya, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Thangarasu Natarajan.
