Hong Kong Sixes 2026: Pakistan vs India time, squads and rules for Friday's clash
Defending champions Pakistan face UAE at 7:35am and India at 11:15am PKT on Friday. Squads, the full schedule and the rules that make Sixes so chaotic.
Pakistan start their Hong Kong Sixes title defence on Friday, 30 October, with two matches on the same morning: UAE at 7:35am Pakistan time, then India at 11:15am. Both games are at Mission Road Ground in Mong Kok, and only the group winner goes through to the Cup semi-finals, so the India match could decide everything.
Pakistan won the Cup last year by beating Kuwait in the final. The one game they lost on the way was against India, by two runs on the DLS method in a rain-hit group match. That is the score Abbas Afridi’s side will want to settle.
Who is playing for Pakistan?
The PCB named a seven-man squad led by fast bowler Mohammad Abbas Afridi:
- Mohammad Abbas Afridi (captain)
- Abdul Samad
- Ahmed Daniyal
- Muhammad Irfan Khan
- Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper)
- Muhammad Shahzad
- Saad Masood
Raza Kitchlew is the team manager. The squad left for Hong Kong on Wednesday. Abdul Samad and Irfan Khan bring the big hitting; in a six-over game, one over of clean striking from either of them can swing a match.
India’s squad
India are captained by all-rounder Krunal Pandya, with Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, T Natarajan and Kulwant Khejroliya. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was in the original squad but was replaced by Khejroliya after being picked for India’s New Zealand tour.
Hong Kong Sixes 2026 schedule (Pakistan time)
- Friday 30 October: Pakistan vs UAE, 7:35am; India vs Pakistan, 11:15am
- Saturday 31 October: India vs UAE, 7:35am; Cup semi-finals at 12:10pm and 1:05pm
- Sunday 1 November: Cup final, 12:10pm
Twelve teams are split into four groups of three. Pakistan, India and UAE are Group C. The group winners play in the Cup, the second-placed teams in the Plate and the third-placed teams in the Bowl. If Pakistan top Group C, their semi-final is against the winner of Group A (Australia, England and hosts Hong Kong).
Why Sixes is so unpredictable
The rules are built for chaos:
- Each side has seven players and each innings is just six overs.
- Every fielder except the wicketkeeper has to bowl an over, so teams cannot hide their weakest bowler.
- A batter must retire at 50, which stops one star from winning the game alone.
- Wides and no-balls cost an extra run and an extra ball.
That is why a part-time bowler’s over often decides the match, and why defending champions go out in the group stage more often than you would expect.
Where to watch
In India the tournament streams on FanCode. No Pakistani broadcaster had been confirmed for this year’s edition at the time of writing; last year it streamed on Tapmad. We will update this page if a channel is announced.
The India game comes a day before Pakistan’s senior side meets Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-series final in Lahore on Saturday, so it is a busy cricket weekend.
