Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played for India since 2022, and he will captain them at the Hong Kong Sixes
Bhuvneshwar leads a seven-man India squad in Hong Kong from 30 October, but a reported T20I recall for the New Zealand tour would clash with the tournament.
Oct 6, 2026
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not played for India since a T20I in Napier in November 2022. At the end of this month he will captain an India side again, if not quite the one he has been waiting for: the seven-man squad for the Hong Kong Sixes, which runs from 30 October to 1 November at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground.
Cricket Hong Kong, China named the squad on 5 October. Bhuvneshwar, 36, takes over from Dinesh Karthik, who led India at last year’s edition.
Who is going
Krunal Pandya, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi and T Natarajan have all played for India. Shashank Singh and Rahul Tewatia have not, although Tewatia was picked in a T20I squad for the home series against England in March 2021.
Shashank and Tewatia built their IPL reputations as late-innings hitters, and a six-a-side game is close to being all late innings. Krunal adds left-arm spin and lower-order runs, and Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar are the two seamers.
Bhuvneshwar comes in on the back of a big IPL. He took 28 wickets in 16 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2026, one fewer than Kagiso Rabada, who won the Purple Cap. The Indian Express has reported that he is likely to be picked for India’s five T20Is in New Zealand.
That would be a problem for Hong Kong. The New Zealand series runs from 22 October to 1 November, and the fourth and fifth T20Is, in Auckland and Hamilton, fall on 30 October and 1 November, the first and last days of the Sixes. He cannot play both. If the senior call does come, the Sixes squad will need a new captain.
Pakistan on the first day
India are in Pool C with Pakistan and the UAE. They play Pakistan on 30 October, the opening day, and the UAE on 31 October.
Pakistan are the defending champions and have won the tournament six times, more than anyone else. India did beat them last year, by two runs on DLS in a rain-hit group game in which Robin Uthappa made 28 off 11 balls. It did not carry them far. India lost to Kuwait by 27 runs the next day, and Pakistan went on to beat Kuwait by 43 runs in the final.
How the tournament works
Twelve teams are split into four pools of three. The pool winners go into the Cup semi-finals, the second-placed sides into the Plate semi-finals and the third-placed sides into the Bowl. The finals are on 1 November.