Pakistan retain five title winners as India change all seven for the Hong Kong Sixes

Pakistan open the defence of their Hong Kong Sixes title against India on Friday with five of the seven players who won last year's final, while India arrive in Mong Kok with a squad in which nobody played the tournament 12 months ago

The two sides meet at Mission Road Ground in Mong Kok at 14:15 local time, 11:45am IST, in the seventh of nine matches on the opening day of the 22nd edition. India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates make up Group C.

Pakistan arrive as champions. They beat Kuwait by 43 runs in last November's final for a sixth title, and the captain who lifted the trophy, Abbas Afridi, leads the side again.

India's position is the opposite one. They beat Pakistan in the pool stage last year and still finished 12th of the 12 teams, losing every match that followed.

Five of the title-winning seven stay on

The Pakistan Cricket Board named Afridi captain of a seven-man squad completed by Abdul Samad, Ahmed Daniyal, Irfan Khan, Khawaja Nafay, Muhammad Shahzad and Saad Masood.

Five of them — Afridi, Abdul Samad, Nafay, Shahzad and Masood — were in the squad that won in 2025. Maaz Sadaqat and Shahid Aziz make way for Daniyal and Irfan Khan.

Afridi's final was the innings of that tournament. He made 52 not out from 11 balls as Pakistan posted 135 for 3 in their six overs, and Kuwait were bowled out for 92 in reply.

He was named Player of the Match in the final and Player of the Tournament for the week.

India finished last 12 months ago

India's 2025 began well enough. They beat Pakistan by 2 runs on DLS in a rain-shortened pool match in Mong Kok, Robin Uthappa making 28 from 11 balls and Bharat Chipli 24 from 13 in a total of 86 for 4.

Pakistan were 41 for 1 after three overs when the rain ended it, two short of the par score.

Little else went right. Kuwait beat India by 27 runs to push them to third in the pool, and three Bowl matches brought three defeats — to the UAE by four wickets, to Nepal by 92 runs and to Sri Lanka by 48 runs.

India placed 12th and last. Pakistan, beaten by them on the opening day, went on to win the Cup.

A new seven under Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya captains an India squad of Kulwant Khejroliya, T Natarajan, Nitish Rana, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia and Rahul Tripathi.

None of the seven was in Hong Kong last year. Dinesh Karthik led that side, which also carried Uthappa, Stuart Binny, Chipli, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal.

Where last year's squad was drawn largely from retired internationals, this one is made up of players still active in Indian domestic and franchise cricket.

Group C and the three routes out

Twelve teams are split into four groups of three for the six-a-side format, six overs an innings, with squads of seven.

Group winners go into the Cup semi-finals, the runners-up into the Plate and the third-placed sides into the Bowl — the bracket India spent last year's closing days in.

Pakistan play first on Friday, meeting the UAE at 10:35 local time before facing India in the afternoon. India's other group match is against the UAE.

What Friday decides

With three teams and two matches each, a single result can settle the group, which is why the India fixture carries weight beyond the rivalry.

Last year's meeting showed that beating Pakistan is not by itself enough. India won that match and still went out at the pool stage.

The tournament runs to 1 November, with the Cup, Plate and Bowl knockouts filling the closing two days.

Pakistan won their last three matches of the 2025 tournament after that defeat by India, and have not played a Sixes match since.

Catch the match live updates, highlights, and full match coverage on CricRadio. Get fast, accurate, and ad-free updates throughout the game. Download the CricRadio app from the Play Store to stay connected. You can also get the live scores of cricket series directly on the CricRadio website for real-time coverage.