Bhuvneshwar Kumar is going to New Zealand, so Krunal Pandya will captain India at the Hong Kong Sixes
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s India recall has cost the Hong Kong Sixes their captain. Krunal Pandya leads the seven-man side instead, and Kulwant Khejroliya comes into the squad.
Oct 19, 2026
Bhuvneshwar Kumar can only be in one place at the end of this month, and it will be New Zealand. His recall to India’s T20I squad has taken him out of the Hong Kong Sixes, and Krunal Pandya, his teammate at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, will captain the seven-man India side in his place.
Cricket Hong Kong, China announced the change on 17 October. Gujarat Titans left-armer Kulwant Khejroliya takes Bhuvneshwar’s spot in the squad.
Why he had to choose
The clash was in the calendar from the start. India’s five T20Is in New Zealand start on 22 October, and the fourth and fifth fall on 30 October and 1 November, the first and last days of the Sixes. Bhuvneshwar was named to lead the Sixes side in early October, before the T20I squad came out, and once the selectors picked him for New Zealand there was no way to do both.
For Bhuvneshwar it is the better problem to have. He is 36 and has not played for India since November 2022, and the recall followed a big IPL: 28 wickets in 16 matches for RCB in 2026.
Krunal’s turn
Krunal has not played for India since July 2021, when he played his last ODI and T20I on the tour of Sri Lanka. He has 5 ODIs and 19 T20Is behind him, and his ODI debut against England that March brought 58 not out, the fastest fifty by a debutant in the format.
He has a good IPL of his own behind him. In May his 73 off 46 balls against Mumbai Indians in Raipur, batting through cramp, set up a last-ball win that knocked Mumbai out of the playoff race. Bhuvneshwar hit a six in the final over of that chase. In April Krunal had passed 100 IPL wickets. A six-over game suits what he does: left-arm spin through the middle and quick runs lower down.
The replacement
Khejroliya keeps the squad at two specialist seamers, alongside T Natarajan. He is a left-arm medium-fast bowler who came back into Gujarat Titans’ side for Qualifier 1 this year, and in February 2024 he took four wickets in four balls for Madhya Pradesh against Baroda, only the third bowler to do it in the Ranji Trophy.
The rest of the group is unchanged. Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi give India four batters who can hit from ball one, which is most of what six-a-side cricket asks.
Pakistan first
India are in Pool C with Pakistan and the UAE. They open against Pakistan, the defending champions, on 30 October and play the UAE the next day. Pakistan have won the tournament six times, more than anyone else, and beat Kuwait in last year’s final.
India squad: Krunal Pandya (captain), Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, T Natarajan, Kulwant Khejroliya.