India finally has its official squad for the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) event at the first-ever Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026. NODWIN Gaming, which is handling India’s national team duties for the tournament, dropped the roster along with some big news: India has been given a special invite to the main event happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 3 to 8. That’s part of the larger ENC schedule, which runs the whole month, from November 2 to 29.
Why a “special invite” instead of direct qualification?
Here’s where it gets interesting. A total of 124 countries and territories submitted rosters for the BGMI event, but only 12 of them locked in direct invitations based on the ENC Ranking system basically, points earned from official BGMI competitions up through July 5. India wasn’t one of those 12. Instead, India was one of four regions handed a Special Invite, a category set aside for teams that ran into structural or technical roadblocks during the normal qualification process.
Either way, India’s in. And with 32 national teams set to battle it out for a prize pool of USD 1.32 million (roughly INR 12.5 crore), that’s no small deal.
Meet the squad
Leading the charge is Nakul Sharma, a name most BGMI fans will instantly recognize. His resume speaks for itself titles at BGMS 2022, BMPS 2023, BGMS 2024, CEGC 2025, and most recently BGIS 2026, where he also picked up the Best IGL award.
He won’t be doing it alone, of course. Here’s the rest of the lineup:
- Yash Choudhary (“Legit”): Nakul’s iQOO SouL teammate, and the Finals MVP at BGIS 2026.
- Rudra Banswani (“Spower”): coming in hot after leading GodLike Esports to the BMPS 2026 title.
- Ankit Shukla (“Akop”): winner of the 2025 BGMI Showdown, and already qualified for the PUBG Mobile World Championship.
- Abhijot Singh (“Pain”): known across the scene for his steady, reliable play with iQOO Revenant Xspark.
- Raghuraj Singh (“Slug”): champion of BMSD Season 4 with K9 Esports.
Rounding out the setup is Rahul (“Ayogi”), who’s stepping in as the team’s coach.
What the captain had to say
Nakul was very open about what this means. He said playing for India is a responsibility. It’s not about one player or one group. It’s much bigger than that.
“India carries a responsibility bigger than any individual player or organisation, and that the group’s focus over the coming months will be on building chemistry and communication ahead of facing the world’s best.”
The plan is straightforward. They will spend a months getting to know each other and talking well as a team. Then they will compete against the teams, in the world.
India’s growing esports presence at ENC 2026
BGMI is not the game that India has a chance to do well in at ENC 2026. India has already got a spot in three games which are Chess, VALORANT and Trackmania. This means India will be in least four games for sure.
There are some games coming up too. The regional qualifiers, for PUBG: Battlegrounds will start from July 10 to 12. Then Rocket League will have its qualifiers from July 17 to 19. The game MOBA Legends: 5v5! might also have its qualifiers by the middle of August if it does not get a direct invite before that.
Also Read: PUBG Mobile 4.5 Update Guide: Naruto Mode And How To Download
