The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is set for a “quantum leap forward” after headliners India announced a squad for this year’s tournament composed almost exclusively of players who competed in the 2026 Indian Premier League. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a veteran of 229 international appearances, will captain a side that also features his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate, and fellow reigning Indian Premier League (IPL) champion, Krunal Pandya, as well as the former India all-format bowler Thangarasu Natarajan.
Since the Sixes was revived in 2024, India, who claimed their solitary Hong Kong title in 2005, have delivered a pair of slapdash tournament performances, twice crashing out at the group stage. They lost nine of their 10 matches over the past two editions. After assembling a seven-strong squad that features only one player who did not make it into the middle during the latest IPL, the Kolkata Knight Riders top-order striker Rahul Tripathi, the Indians will expect an upturn in fortunes when the three-day 2026 Hong Kong Sixes gets under way on October 30.
“We are very grateful to the Indian cricket authorities for their support in helping us put together arguably one of the strongest sides that has represented India in the history of the Sixes,” said Anurag Bhatnagar, Cricket Hong Kong, China’s (CHKC) director of marketing and commercial. “This will surely prove to be a quantum leap forward in terms of viewership and further validation for this iconic tournament.”
Last month, CHKC announced a partnership with Indian enterprise JSW Sports, which includes co-ownership of IPL giants Delhi Capitals among an enviable sporting portfolio.
Among this year’s Indian Sixes contingent, the Delhi
Among this year’s Indian Sixes contingent, the Delhi franchise has provided Natarajan, whose lone Test appearance came in India’s series-clinching three-wicket victory over Australia in Brisbane in January 2021, and 32-year-old former international middle-order batsman Nitish Rana. The JSW tie-in was forged with a view to the Sixes “going global”, according to Bhatnagar, with plans in place to introduce an additional competition every year, until a worldwide series of five or six events has been established.
Pakistan will defend their Hong Kong title at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, after the 12-team line-up was confirmed on Friday. In right-arm swing merchant Kumar, 36, India come with a player who played 21 Tests, 121 ODIs and 87 T20Is during a 10-year international career, and claimed the wickets of Sai Sadharsan and Jason Holder in RCB’s IPL final victory over Gujarat Titans in May.
Kumar also won the IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, when his 23-wicket haul made him the tournament’s most prolific bowler. Spinning all-rounder Pandya, who has made 19 T20I and five ODI appearances, was also on the winning side in this year’s final. Leg break bowler and huge-hitting batsman Rahul Tewatia, another member of the India party for Hong Kong, was in the beaten Gujarat team, with whom he won the IPL in 2022.
Shashank Singh, the 34-year-old Punjab Kings all-rounder, and Kolkata’s Tripathi, 35, who played five T20I matches in 2023, are also in India’s Sixes squad. India squad for Hong Kong Cricket Sixes: Bhuvenshwar Kumar (c), Krunal Pandya, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Thangarasu Natarajan.
Source: www.scmp.com
