A last-minute change is set to affect India’s
VALORANT roster for the Esports Nations Cup. According to
Sheep Esports sources, Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar,
one of the team's two most prominent figures alongside Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, has decided to withdraw from the competition for personal reasons. He will be replaced by Daivik “
DcRulz” Chauhan, who was known in recent seasons as
deecee in
VALORANT Challengers South Asia (VCSA).
DcRulz will therefore become the third former Gods Reign player — the team released its entire roster in early May — on the Indian roster, alongside Lightningfast and Sagnik “hellff” Roy. Together, the trio reached the VCSA Split 1 semifinals before falling to Revenant XSpark, the organization represented by three other members of India’s ENC roster: Venkatesh “venka” Sharma, Shravana “Techno” Sahoo, and Aman “Hoax” Yadav. Split 1 was ultimately won by S8UL Esports, SkRossi’s team.
The change also impacts India’s position in the ENC rankings. Of the 32 teams set to compete at the Main Event in Riyadh from November 8 to 15, 16 will receive direct invitations based on the points accumulated by players on their respective rosters. These points were awarded according to performances in the official VALORANT circuit over recent months. For each nation, the five highest-scoring players—out of a seven-player roster that includes two substitutes—are counted toward the ranking used to determine the sixteen invited teams. All remaining nations must qualify through regional qualifiers.
Around the 40th position of the ENC Rankings
SkRossi was India’s leading points contributor with 300 points. DcRulz brings less than half that total, contributing 125 points. As a result, India’s overall tally now stands at 850 points, distributed as follows:
- Venkatesh “venka” Sharma (200 points)
- Shravana “Techno” Sahoo (200 points)
- Aman “Hoax” Yadav (200 points)
- Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury (125 points)
- Daivik “DcRulz” Chauhan (125 points)
- Sagnik “hellff” Roy (125 points)
- Norbu “karam1L” Tsering (125 points)
Note: Four players on India's roster contribute 125 points each. However, only two of those totals are currently counted toward the nation's ENC ranking, as only the five highest-scoring players are taken into account.
According to Liquipedia’s calculations, a total of 850 points would place India around 40th in the rankings, meaning the nation will have to compete in the Asian Qualifier. In reality, even with the additional 175 points that SkRossi would have provided, India would have gained little ground in the standings and would likely have been
destined for the “Asia” Qualifier regardless.
The regional qualifiers will take place from June 26 to June 28. It now remains for head coach Abhishek “GodspeedxD” Bajaj to confirm the starting five that will represent India in the competition.
