India revise Hong Kong Sixes 2026 squad: Krunal Pandya named captain

India have revised their seven-member squad for the Hong Kong Sixes 2026, with Krunal Pandya taking over as captain from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The tournament’s official announcement on 17 October confirmed that Kulwant Khejroliya replaces Bhuvneshwar in the squad. These are two parts of the same update: Krunal assumes the leadership role, while Kulwant fills the vacated player spot. Krunal was already included in the original group, so the change does not mean that both players have been newly added. The revised roster remains a seven-player squad for the six-a-side event. [1] [2]

The complete revised India squad is Krunal Pandya — captain, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, T. Natarajan and Kulwant Khejroliya. The official team page lists those seven names, with Krunal identified separately as captain. For readers comparing an older squad graphic with the updated announcement, the important change is to remove Bhuvneshwar and include Kulwant; the other listed players remain in the group. This is the selected squad for Hong Kong, not a confirmed starting six for any individual fixture. Match-day selection should not be inferred from the order in which the names appear. [1] [2]

Bhuvneshwar’s national-team commitment explains the switch. The Hong Kong organisers link his absence to India’s New Zealand tour, which begins on 22 October. BCCI’s earlier announcement, dated 6 October, already names him in India’s T20I squad and lists the fourth and fifth matches for 30 October and 1 November respectively. Those dates overlap the Hong Kong Sixes tournament window, providing useful scheduling context for the revised squad. The dated BCCI list is not a new 17 October selection announcement, and the Hong Kong change should not be reported as an injury withdrawal or a prediction about which New Zealand fixtures Bhuvneshwar will play. [1] [3]

The Hong Kong Sixes runs from 30 October to 1 November 2026 at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon. Both the official tournament site and the Hong Kong Tourism Board confirm the venue and dates, while the event uses six players per side. That distinction matters when reading a seven-member squad: the roster names the available group, rather than promising that all seven will appear together in a match. The confirmed news is the captaincy change and updated personnel; fixture-by-fixture lineups, match results and live scores belong to their own official updates once available. [2] [4]