Nodwin Gaming, India’s national team partner for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026, has announced the country’s Valorant roster for the competition, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 29 November 2026.
The Indian team will be led by in‑game leader Sagnik “Hellf” Roy and will include Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, Aman “Hoax” Yadav, Venkatesh “Venky” Sharma, Norbu “Karam1L” Tsering, Shravana “Techno” Sahoo, and Daivik “Dc” Chauhan. Afaque “Envy2K” Shaikh, Jayesh “kibojn” Negi, and Rishi “RvK” Vijayakumar will serve as substitutes. Abhishek “GodspeedxD” Bajaj will act as the coach.
Hellf shared, “A national team is different from a club team because you have to bring together the best players from different environments and get them moving in the same direction. Fortunately, many of us have competed together before, which gives us a strong foundation. The goal now is to make the most of that familiarity, sharpen our teamwork, and put ourselves in the best position to qualify for Riyadh.”
Valorant at the ENC 2026 will be held from 8 to 15 November, with 32 national teams competing for a prize pool of US $1.5 million (approximately Rs 14 crore).
The Esports Foundation will allocate 16 direct invitations through the official ENC rankings system, which aggregates points earned by players based on their participation in regional and international VCT competitions up to 21 June 2026. 14 teams will qualify through regional online tournaments, while the remaining two places will be awarded as wildcard entries. India’s qualification campaign will begin in the Asia regional qualifiers, scheduled from 26 to 28 June, from which two teams will progress to the ENC 2026 main event.
India’s League of Legends team, comprising Aakash “Infi” Shandilya, Akshaj “Kat Bot” Shenoy, Rahul “Bob” Bisht, Vinayak “Panda” Gupta, and Niranjan “Sam” Prabakaran, narrowly missed qualification for ENC 2026 after being eliminated by Japan in the semi‑finals of the regional qualifiers.
Meanwhile, India’s preparations for ENC 2026 continue across several titles. Nodwin Gaming has announced the following national team rosters:
Dota 2: Krish “Krish” Gupta, Vishal “HBK” Vernekar, Dhvanit “Negi” Singh Negi, Manav “MnZ” Kunte, and Yash “xand3r_^” Thakur. Moin “NO_Chanc3” Ejaz will serve as coach. The roster will compete in the regional qualifiers from 29 June to 1 July, where two teams will secure qualification.
Chess: Grandmasters Nihal Sarin and Mitrabha Guha have qualified to represent India at the ENC 2026 main event.
Moba Legends: 5v5!: Gaithanlung “Kyle” Gonmei, Susanta “Kimyy” Biswas, Abhijeet “Asuna” Katkar, Rithik “Romcom” Sohal, Evancius “Vann” A. Sangma, Mohammad “Apex” Saad and Jay “J” Mehta. Steve “Dale” Vitug will serve as coach.
India is currently ranked 11th in the Moba Legends: 5v5! ENC rankings and remains in contention for a direct invitation. Should it miss out, the team will compete in the regional qualifiers scheduled for 15 to 16 August.
Rocket League: Abhai “Abscrazy’ Ponna, Karthik “Karvin” Raghunandan, Aditeya “Riyal” Srivastav, and substitute player Jayanth “Orjanguse” Engineer. Nirjhar “jocse” Mitra will serve as coach. The team will compete in the regional qualifiers from 17 to 19 July, where three teams from Asia will secure qualification for the ENC 2026 finals.
