India’s Pokémon UNITE team will head to the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya with a roster drawn from Revenant XSpark, giving six Indian esports athletes the opportunity to compete for an official Asian Games medal when the tournament begins later this week.
The national squad consists of Adnan Mohammed “Badshah” Badshah, Reuben Godfrey Fernandes, Sai Krishna “Vulcan” Nalluri, Dipjyoti Laxman “Disapple” Nath and Rudra Narayan “Rex” Nayak, with Deepkumar Vipulbhai Patel travelling as substitute. Zeren Wang will coach the team in Japan.
The players normally compete together under the Revenant XSpark banner, but at Aichi-Nagoya they will compete as Team India. Their qualification follows victory at the National Esports Championships 2026 and a runner-up finish at the Pokémon UNITE Asia International Tournament, giving the roster recent experience against national teams before the Asian Games.
India’s Pokémon UNITE campaign is scheduled from September 25 to 27 at the Aichi Sky Expo, with the medal rounds taking place on the final day. The tournament forms part of the biggest esports program yet staged at an Asian Games, with 13 game titles represented across 11 medal events. TalkEsport’s complete Asian Games 2026 esports guide has the schedule, titles and full Indian contingent.
Who is representing India in Pokémon UNITE at Asian Games 2026?
- Adnan Mohammed Badshah — Badshah
- Reuben Godfrey Fernandes — Reuben
- Sai Krishna Nalluri — Vulcan
- Dipjyoti Laxman Nath — Disapple
- Rudra Narayan Nayak — Rex
- Deepkumar Vipulbhai Patel — Deepkumar (substitute)
- Coach: Zeren Wang
The roster brings considerable experience from India’s competitive Pokémon UNITE circuit. Badshah won the Pokémon UNITE Championship Series India competition across four successive editions from 2022 through 2025, according to Revenant XSpark, while also winning the Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League India competition in 2023.
Rex was part of three consecutive first-place finishes at the Pokémon UNITE Championship Series India competitions between 2023 and 2025. Vulcan’s domestic résumé includes victories at the Pokémon UNITE Winter Tournament India and Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League India, while Reuben won the 2025 Winter Tournament and Disapple has recorded multiple podium finishes in the Asia Champions League’s India competition.
The group also has extensive experience competing together. Revenant XSpark has been part of India’s established Pokémon UNITE circuit for several seasons, including the Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League 2026 India League, where 10 leading Indian organisations competed during the domestic stage.
Team India enters Asian Games after runner-up finish in Asia
More relevant to India’s medal prospects is what happened after the domestic qualification process. Revenant XSpark won Pokémon UNITE at NESC 2026, beginning the roster’s route towards representing India internationally. The national team subsequently competed at the Pokémon UNITE Asia International Tournament 2026, an AESF-sanctioned event featuring 11 national teams.
India topped its group during online qualification before travelling to Bangkok for the Grand Finals. The team defeated Singapore during its run and eventually reached the championship match, where it finished runner-up to Japan.
That result matters heading into Aichi-Nagoya because the players have already competed together under the Indian flag rather than only as a professional organisation. It also provided the squad with recent competitive experience against Asian opposition before entering a significantly higher-stakes multi-sport event.
Coach Zeren Wang said the second-place finish helped establish both the team’s level and the areas requiring improvement before Japan. “The objective is to compete for a medal for India,” Wang said, adding that representing the country brings a different level of responsibility from competing for an esports organisation.
Pokémon UNITE at Asian Games 2026: Schedule and format
Pokémon UNITE competition begins on September 25 at the Aichi Sky Expo. The group phase runs across September 25 and 26, before the competition moves into an eight-team single-elimination playoff on September 27. The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal-deciding matches are scheduled for the final day.
The September 25 competition window begins at 6:30 AM IST, with additional Pokémon UNITE group-stage matches scheduled throughout the day. The knockout stage on September 27 begins from 5:30 AM IST.
All esports medal events at Aichi-Nagoya are being staged at the Aichi Sky Expo. The wider 20th Asian Games runs from September 19 through October 4.
India sends 15 esports athletes across four games
Pokémon UNITE represents one part of India’s esports campaign in Japan. India has sent a 15-member esports contingent to Aichi-Nagoya across four titles: Pokémon UNITE, League of Legends, eFootball and Puyo Puyo Champions. The squad was cleared by India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in August.
The six Pokémon UNITE players therefore account for 40% of India’s entire esports contingent at these Games.
Esports itself is appearing as a medal discipline at the Asian Games for only the second time. It debuted as a demonstration event at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018 before medals were awarded for the first time at Hangzhou, which was staged in 2023 after its postponement. Aichi-Nagoya expands the program considerably, from seven titles at Hangzhou to 13 titles spread across 11 medal events in 2026.
India’s best esports result at Hangzhou came in League of Legends, where the national team reached the quarterfinals and finished tied for fifth. India did not win an esports medal at those Games, meaning the country’s first Asian Games esports medal remains available to be claimed in Japan.
From Revenant XSpark to Team India
For Revenant XSpark, the Asian Games appearance also represents a different measure of success from winning an esports league or commercial tournament.
“You can win tournaments and build successful teams, but seeing your players earn the right to represent India is different. Representing India is bigger than any organisation or trophy,” Revenant XSpark CEO Rohit Jagasia said.
That distinction is worth making. Revenant XSpark’s players earned their route into the national setup through competition, but once play begins in Aichi-Nagoya, the result belongs to India’s Asian Games campaign rather than the organisation’s conventional esports record.
The roster arrives with a useful combination of domestic experience and recent international competition. Badshah, Rex, Vulcan, Reuben and Disapple have accumulated years of tournament experience in India, while Deepkumar was also part of the national squad that finished second at the Asia International Tournament.
On September 25, that experience moves onto a considerably larger stage. The immediate objective is no longer another organisational championship: it is an Asian Games medal for India.
