The Indian contingent participating in the first-ever Commonwealth Esports Championship departed for Birmingham on Monday. The multi-nation esports tournament, organized by Commonwealth Games & Global Esports Federation, is scheduled to happen from August 6-7.

The members of the DOTA 2 and Rocket League, set to represent the country in Birmingham, were present at the send-off ceremony hosted by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) on Sunday. ESFI also unveiled the Indian team’s official kits for the tournament during the event.

The Indian team in the Rocket League will consist of captain Hargun Singh, Sandeep Sahani and Rushil Reddy. Team Dota 2 comprises captain Moin Ejaz, Ketan Goyal, Abhishek Yadav, Shubham Goli and Vishal Vernekar. India has no representation in the eFootball™ series.

Both the teams have already proved their mettle by clinching impressive wins in the South Asian Regional Qualifiers for the Commonwealth event last month.

India’s Rocket League team started its campaign with a 3-2 win against Pakistan and then recorded 3-1 and 3-0 victories against the Maldives and Sri Lanka, respectively, in their next two games.

On the other hand, the Indian team competing in DOTA2 defeated Sri Lanka in both rounds and managed to win in one round each against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“I am really excited about esports being included in a Commonwealth event as this will really change how esports is perceived among people around the world. As a player, it is a huge opportunity being given to us and we are really going to do our best to represent India as best as we can,” Hargun said on the sidelines of the event.

“The entire team is looking forward to playing against the best teams in the world and proving our mettle. We have been paying a lot of attention to our strategies and practising a lot in the hopes of a podium finish,” Ejaz added. Esports was included in the Asian Games 2022 programme as a medal event after making an appearance as a demonstration sport in 2018.