India’s BGMI and Valorant squads are set for the Esports Nations Cup 2026
NODWIN Gaming has named India’s rosters for the first Esports Nations Cup, with the BGMI side handed a special invite and the Valorant team qualifying the hard way through the Asian bracket.
Jul 16, 2026
India’s line-up for the inaugural Esports Nations Cup is falling into place. NODWIN Gaming, the country’s national team partner for the event, has confirmed the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) roster that will travel to Riyadh in November, days after the Valorant team booked its own place at the same tournament. Two of India’s most-watched titles now have their squads locked for a competition built around national pride rather than club badges.
The Esports Nations Cup is a new format that pits countries against each other across several games, and Saudi Arabia is hosting the first edition in November 2026. India has earned representation in multiple titles, and the BGMI and Valorant announcements give fans two clear teams to get behind.
A BGMI squad built around a proven captain
The BGMI side is led by Nakul “Nakul” Sharma, a 21-year-old in-game leader with one of the deepest trophy cabinets in Indian mobile esports. He has captained title-winning runs at the BGMI Masters Series in 2022, the BGMI Pro Series in 2023 and the Masters Series again in 2024, and he was named the best in-game leader at BGIS 2026. Around him sit Yash “Legit” Choudhary, Rudra “Spower” Banswani, Ankit “Akop” Shukla, Abhijot “Pain” Singh and Raghuraj “Slug” Singh, with Rahul “Ayogi” installed as coach.
It is a roster stacked with recent silverware. Spower steered GodLike Esports to the BMPS 2026 crown, Akop won both the BGMI Showdown and the iQOO Battlegrounds Series in 2025, and Slug lifted a Masters Series trophy with K9 Esports. Pain has built his reputation on consistency in the iQOO Revenant Xspark set-up. Rather than run through a qualifier, India’s BGMI team was handed a special invite straight to the main event, one of four such invitations reserved for regions facing structural or technical hurdles to standard qualification.
Valorant earned it the hard way
The Valorant story could not be more different. India’s team fought through the Asian qualifier’s double-elimination bracket, losing to Japan in the upper half before rebuilding through the lower bracket. Wins over Pakistan and Mongolia set up a decisive clash with Hong Kong, which India closed out 2-0 to seal a main-event berth. They finished second in the region behind Japan, and both nations advanced to Riyadh.
The starting five is led by in-game leader Sagnik “Hellf” Roy, alongside Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, Aman “Hoax” Yadav, Venkatesh “Venky” Sharma and Daivik “Dc” Chauhan, with Norbu “Karam1L” Tsering and Shravana “Techno” Sahoo rounding out the main roster, Afaque “Envy2K” Shaikh, Jayesh “kibojn” Negi and Rishi “RvK” Vijayakumar named as substitutes, and Abhishek “GodspeedxD” Bajaj coaching. For a region that has often watched the international Valorant stage from the outside, simply making the field counts as a statement.
What is at stake in Riyadh
The prize money reflects how seriously the organisers are treating the event. The BGMI competition brings together 32 teams for a pot worth around 1.32 million US dollars, close to 12.5 crore rupees, while the Valorant field is the same size and plays for roughly 1.5 million, about 14 crore. For Indian fans, the appeal is less about the numbers and more about the flag: for once, the country’s best players are not competing against each other under rival org banners but pulling in the same direction.
There is a long runway before the first shots are fired, and rosters at this level can still shift with form and fitness. For now, though, India has two settled teams and a rare chance to measure itself against the world in the same fortnight.