Sources: SkRossi and Lightningfast will be part of India's VALORANT for Esports Nations Cup

India has finalized the selection of players who will represent the country at the Esports Nations Cup in VALORANT. Seven players, including two substitutes, have been chosen to form the roster, sources tell Sheep Esports. The team will be led by Abhishek “GodspeedxD” Bajaj, who will serve as Head Coach. Among the selected players are two former VCT Pacific competitors who previously played for Global Esports: Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar and Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury.

Both players competed in the VCT between 2023 and 2024 with the indian organization before transitioning to the VCL South Asia. According to sources, the remainder of the roster is expected to include five additional players, including two substitutes who has yet to be decided. The lineup is set to feature Venkatesh “venka” Sharma, Shravana "Techno" Sahoo and Aman “Hoax” Yadav from Revenant XSpark, as well as Sagnik “hellff” Roy, Lightningfast’s teammate at Gods Reign and Norbu “karam1L” Tsering.

The team will likely have to go through the regional qualifier, where they will face other national squads from regions also represented in the VCT.

Scheduled from November 2 to 29 for its inaugural edition in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the nation-based competition, set to be the largest in esports history, is expected to bring together thousands of players from around a hundred countries, competing across nearly 16 titles. Alongside the VALORANT tournament, which will take place from November 8 to 15, national team competitions will also be held in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six Siege. For Riot Games’ FPS, around 32 teams, each representing a nation, will compete on site.

Before that, participants must first be determined. The Esports Foundation, which oversees both the ENC and the Esports World Cup, has decided that 16 of the 32 teams will qualify directly for the main event based on their representatives’ results within Riot Games’ official circuits. The remaining teams will have to go through one of seven regional qualifiers, each granting two spots. The final two slots are expected to be distributed as wildcards by the ENC, likely at the discretion of the event organizer.