Breaking
Explainer

India at Commonwealth Kabaddi

India's schedule, results, and standings in the 2026 Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship

By , Sports writer

· 2 min read

A kabaddi, general view
Kabaddi (general file photo, not from this event) Photo: Wasielgallery / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The 2026 Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship is underway, with India competing in the men's and women's tournaments. The championship features 13 men's teams and 10 women's teams from across the Commonwealth.

Key takeaways

  • India is competing in the men's and women's tournaments
  • The championship features 13 men's teams and 10 women's teams
  • The tournament is being held at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, India

India will host the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, from 23 to 31 October 2026. The tournament features 13 men's teams and 10 women's teams from across the Commonwealth, competing to promote kabaddi toward future inclusion in the main Commonwealth Games program. Matches before 6 PM will be streamed live on JioHotstar, with scores updated after each match and schedule and points tables refreshed at the end of every day.

Men's groups and schedule

Group A contains India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Group B contains Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Scotland and Singapore. Every team plays all the others in its group once. Because Group A has seven teams and Group B has six, a single loss costs a Group B side more than it costs a Group A side. On the opening day, Bangladesh face Singapore at 4:00 PM IST, Canada play Scotland at 6:00 PM IST, Malaysia meet England at 7:00 PM IST, India's men take on Tanzania at 8:00 PM IST, and Nigeria play Sri Lanka at 9:00 PM IST.

Women's groups and schedule

The women's draw places India, Nigeria, Singapore, Uganda and Malaysia in Group A, and Bangladesh, Kenya, England, Sri Lanka and Scotland in Group B. Each team plays the other four in its group once, meaning four matches per side and very little room to recover from a slow start. On the opening day, Kenya face Scotland at 1:00 PM IST, followed by Singapore versus Malaysia at 2:00 PM IST.

India squads

India's men's squad carries 14 players, captained by Surjeet Singh with Naveen Kumar as vice-captain. The squad includes Aditya Shinde, Ajit Pawar, Bharat Hooda, Deepak Sankar, Naveen Kumar, Neeraj Narwal, Nitesh Kumar, Pankaj Mohite, Parvesh Bhainswal, Sachin Tanwar, Shivam Patare, Shubham Shinde, Surjeet Singh and Yogesh Dahiya. India's women's squad also carries 14 players, led by Nidhi Sharma with Ritu Mitharwal as vice-captain. The squad includes Anu Sen, Champa Thakur, Jyoti, Karthika Ramesh, Muskan Sharma, Nidhi Sharma, Priya, Renuka Choudhary, Ritu Mitharwal, Riya Kumari, Sabhai Gadhavi, Sakshi, Simran Kamboj and Suman Sahu.

Tournament format and what happens next

Both the men's and women's competitions use the same structure: teams play everyone in their group once, the group stage decides who advances, and the top sides meet in the semi-finals on 30 October. The winners of those semi-finals play for gold on 31 October. SF means score for, SA means score against, and SD means score difference.

Men's Group A standings

Team

Score For

Score Against

Score Difference

India

SF

SA

SD

Nigeria

SF

SA

SD

Malaysia

SF

SA

SD

Uganda

SF

SA

SD

England

SF

SA

SD

Tanzania

SF

SA

SD

Sri Lanka

SF

SA

SD

Sources

Topics

Spotted an error? Read our corrections policy or use the flag button above. Our editorial standards explain how we report.

Discussion

Sign in or create a free account to join the discussion. Please follow our community guidelines.