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Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026: India squad, schedule from 23 October, and where to watch
The first Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship starts in Ahmedabad on Friday, 23 October, two days later than first planned. India have picked fresh 14-member men's and women's squads with none of last month's Asian Games gold medallists. Here are both squads, India's group games with IST start times, where to watch, and why there's still no Pro Kabaddi auction date.
TL;DRThe short version
- Dates moved: 23 to 31 October 2026, at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Naranpura, Ahmedabad. It was first set for 21 October; the International Kabaddi Federation's event page and Khel Now now give 23–31 Oct. (AKFI's squad PDF still carries the old 21 October start.)
- New-look India: AKFI's final 14-member men's squad has no player from the side that won Asian Games gold last month. Naveen Kumar, Surjeet Singh and Sachin Tanwar are the known names; nine players are expected to debut (Sporting News). The 14-member women's squad also has no Asian Games gold medallists.
- India's men open against England on Fri 23 Oct at 8:30 PM IST; the women play Malaysia at 6:45 PM IST the same day (Sporting News fixture list). Pakistan pulled out, so 13 men's teams play (SportsAdda).
- Watch live on JioHotstar's kabaddi section (Star Sports on TV): jiohotstar.com/sports/kabaddiThe broadcast partners (Star Sports and JioHotstar) are confirmed on the International Kabaddi Federation's event page. A tournament-specific page wasn't visible on JioHotstar when we checked at about 9:45 AM IST on 20 Oct; the link above is its kabaddi section.
Key facts
- Event
- 1st Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship, men's and women's team events
- Dates
- 23–31 October 2026 (revised from 21–31 October)
- Venue
- Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Naranpura, Ahmedabad
- Backing
- Commonwealth Sport endorsed; with Sports Ministry, SAI, Sports Authority of Gujarat, IKF and AKFI (IKF)
- Men's field
- 13 teams in two groups (7 and 6); Pakistan withdrew
- India men's group (A)
- Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania, Sri Lanka
- Women's field
- 10 teams in two groups of five
- India women's group (A)
- Nigeria, Singapore, Uganda, Malaysia
- India men's coaches
- J. Udaya Kumar (head), Manjeet Chhillar and Rohit Kumar (assistants), as reported by Kabaddi Adda
- Where to watch
- Star Sports (TV), JioHotstar (streaming)
Short answer: the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026 is the first edition of a men's and women's international kabaddi event for Commonwealth nations. It runs from Friday 23 October to Saturday 31 October at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Naranpura, Ahmedabad, and it's live on Star Sports and JioHotstar. India host it as favourites, but with two new-look squads.
The dates changed: 23 October, not 21
The championship was first scheduled for 21–31 October. Khel Now reported on 13 October that the start had moved to 23 October, and the International Kabaddi Federation's (IKF) event page now lists 23–31 October 2026. One thing to know if you're reading older material: AKFI's final squad PDF still describes the event as running "from 21st October to 31st October". Go by the IKF page and the published fixtures, which start on the 23rd.
IKF says the event is endorsed by Commonwealth Sport and run under the patronage of the Sports Ministry, the Sports Authority of India, the Sports Authority of Gujarat, IKF and AKFI. It is a standalone tournament, not part of a Commonwealth Games. Ahmedabad is also the host city for the 2030 Commonwealth Games (Kabaddi Adda).
India's men's squad
AKFI's final list (with states/departments as AKFI gives them; positions from SportsAdda):
| Player | State / unit | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Naveen Kumar | SSCB | Raider |
| Sachin (Tanwar) | Rajasthan | Raider |
| Pankaj Mohite | Indian Railways | Raider |
| Aditya Shinde | Maharashtra | Raider |
| Shivam Patare | Maharashtra | Raider |
| Bharat Hooda | SSCB | All-rounder |
| Neeraj Narwal | Haryana | All-rounder |
| Surjeet (Singh) | Haryana | Defender |
| Ajit Pawar | Maharashtra | Defender |
| Parvesh (Bhainswal) | Indian Railways | Defender |
| Shubham Shinde | Indian Railways | Defender |
| Nitesh Kumar | Haryana | Defender |
| Yogesh (Dahiya) | Haryana | Defender |
| Deepak Sankar | Tamil Nadu | Defender |
What stands out: none of the men who beat Iran 40-34 for Asian Games gold on 26 September is here, so no Pawan Sehrawat, Arjun Deshwal or Sunil Kumar. Six of this squad (Naveen, Surjeet, Parvesh, Aditya Shinde, Shubham Shinde, Yogesh Dahiya) had been left out of that Asian Games team, SportsAdda points out. Five have senior India experience from the 2023 Hangzhou gold (Naveen, Surjeet, Nitesh, Sachin, Parvesh); Sporting News expects the other nine to debut. Three camp players missed the final cut: raiders Rakesh Sungroya and Ajit Chouhan, and defender Deepak Rathee.
India's women's squad
Muskan Sharma (Madhya Pradesh), Sabhai Gadhavi (Gujarat), Priya (Uttar Pradesh), Champa Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Riya Kumari (Bihar), Suman (Indian Railways), Jyothi (Chandigarh), Ritu (Indian Railways), Anu (Uttar Pradesh), Sakshi (Indian Railways), Karthika Ramesh (Tamil Nadu), Renuka (Rajasthan), Simran Kamboj (Punjab) and Nidhi Sharma (Rajasthan), per AKFI's list. As with the men, no Asian Games gold medallist is included.
India's group games (IST)
Sporting News has published the fixture list. India's men are in Group A with Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania and Sri Lanka; the top two in each group reach the semi-finals.
| Date | India men | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 23 Oct | vs England | 8:30 PM |
| Sat 24 Oct | vs Uganda | 8:30 PM |
| Sun 25 Oct | vs Malaysia | 8:30 PM |
| Mon 26 Oct | vs Nigeria | 8:30 PM |
| Tue 27 Oct | vs Tanzania | 8:30 PM |
| To be confirmed | vs Sri Lanka | – |
| Date | India women | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 23 Oct | vs Malaysia | 6:45 PM |
| Sat 24 Oct | vs Singapore | 6:45 PM |
| To be confirmed | vs Nigeria, vs Uganda | – |
The published list we could read stops before India's men play Sri Lanka and before the women's last two group games. Semi-final and final dates weren't in it either. We'll add them when they're confirmed. Fixtures can still move, so check the day's listing on JioHotstar before you sit down.
Where to watch
- TV: Star Sports network.
- Streaming: JioHotstar (app and website).
Both are named on IKF's event page and in Khel Now's report. Kabaddi Adda found no confirmed broadcasters outside India as of 15 October.
And the Pro Kabaddi auction?
The single biggest kabaddi search this morning wasn't this event: it was "pro kabaddi 2026 auction date". The answer is that there is no official date yet. Mashal Sports, which runs the league, hasn't announced one. Khel Now reported in August that the Season 13 auction would likely fall between 18 and 25 October, and The Kabaddi Pulse's tracker (updated 7:29 AM IST on 20 October) still lists that window as unconfirmed. The tracker notes the calendar was pushed back by the Asian Games and this Commonwealth event, and Khel Now expects Season 13 to start around December.
Our read: with India's next-generation players busy in Ahmedabad until 31 October, a strong week here could lift several uncapped names' auction prices, whenever that auction lands. That's the real subplot of this tournament for PKL fans.
21–26 Sep 2026
Asian Games kabaddi in Aichi-Nagoya; India's men beat Iran 40-34 in the final on 26 Sep (SportsAdda).
13–16 Oct 2026
Start moved from 21 to 23 October; Star Sports and JioHotstar named as broadcasters (Khel Now).
18 Oct 2026
India's 14-member men's and women's squads reported (SportsAdda); AKFI publishes the final list.
23 Oct 2026
Opening day. India men vs England 8:30 PM IST; India women vs Malaysia 6:45 PM IST.
31 Oct 2026
Last day of the championship.
Trend Monitor
Kabaddi searches surged on Tuesday morning, three days before the opening raid, as fans looked up the new event and the long-delayed Pro Kabaddi auction. In Google Trends' related queries for 'kabaddi' (India, past 4 hours, about 9:45 AM IST on 20 October), every rising query was a breakout-scale jump.
- pro kabaddi 2026 auction date+182,750%
- kabaddi kit+128,300%
- commonwealth kabaddi championship 2026+97,750%
Google Trends, India, rising queries, 30 days