Nakul to captain India’s BGMI squad at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup
India will send a six-man BGMI roster captained by Nakul to the inaugural Esports Nations Cup in Riyadh this November, after national team partner NODWIN Gaming confirmed the squad and a special invitation to the tournament.
Jul 9, 2026
The squad reads like a who’s-who of the domestic circuit. Alongside Nakul are Yash “Legit” Choudhary, Rudra “Spower” Banswani, Ankit “Akop” Shukla, Abhijot “Pain” Singh and Raghuraj “Slug” Singh, with Rahul “Ayogi” named head coach. It is a group built on pedigree rather than surprise, drawing on players who have spent years competing at the top of Indian BGMI.
Why Nakul leads
The choice of captain is the least surprising part of the announcement. At 21, Nakul has already steered sides to titles at BGMS 2022, BMPS 2023 and BGMS 2024, added the Chennai Esports Global Championship in 2025, and was named the best in-game leader at BGIS 2026. Few Indian players carry that kind of trophy record into a national assignment, and fewer still have done it as the shot-caller.
A first of its kind
The Esports Nations Cup is a new, country-versus-country competition that runs in Riyadh from November 2 to 29. The BGMI event is scheduled for November 3 to 8, with 32 teams playing for a prize pool of 1.32 million US dollars, around 12.5 crore rupees. India will also field teams in other titles across the tournament, but the BGMI side is the one most fans back home will be tracking.
The context here matters. India secured its place on a special invitation rather than through qualifying, which cuts both ways. It is recognition of how far the country’s BGMI scene has come, and it also raises the bar: an invited side is expected to justify the seat, not just fill it. Nakul and his group have the domestic silverware to back the call. Doing it against the best national rosters in the world is the harder test, and that begins in November.