India’s growing pool of basketball talent was considered at the Senior National Championships held in Chennai recently.
India captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi proved his late game skills in Uttarakhand’s tournament matches against Delhi and Indian Railways.
The championship also helped uncover an interesting talent in Arvind Kumar of Tamil Nadu. The 22-year-old is just over 6 meters tall, jumps a meter or two higher and scores goals through hooks, saves and key assists. He played a key role in Tamil Nadu’s victory over Punjab in the final.
Possessing a calm and calm demeanor, Muin Bek delights viewers. His three pointers are almost always on the homeowner’s target. The trio of Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh and Princepal Singh struggled in the middle but played well to bring Punjab into the summit clash.
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Veselin Matic, head coach of India’s men’s national team, is happy with the Tamil Nadu men’s team, saying that they have rotated players intelligently, giving every player a chance. “They had a camp that lasted exactly a month and didn’t allow their players to compete in any tournaments,” he said.
However, the 61-year-old has failed to impress many teams in the senior leagues. He is of the opinion that many teams including those in the upper and lower groups have arrived unprepared for the national team. He said most sides are not competitive enough and are there in the championship just to make up the numbers.
“This is not the way to develop players,” he said, while sharing his own plans for the National team. “Our goal is to play a quality, more competitive game and challenge teams like New Zealand, Philippines etc by 2025,” Matic said. Sports star.
While Matic has made his aspirations clear, basketball’s governing body India seems to be groping in the dark.
There are no plans for a professional league that would allow Indians to play alongside foreign talent and hone their skills.
The Indian National Basketball League, scheduled to begin on June 15, will be similar to the League Cup. It will feature the best nine men’s and women’s teams from the Senior National Championships. Officials agree that grassroots basketball in the country is in dire need of improvement. The National Federation of Schools has been planned for this year which, although late, is a step in the right direction.
For the first time, the Basketball Federation of India changed the format of this year’s National Championship.
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There are next two rounds which are knockout instead of one round and knockout. The new system offered another chance for teams that didn’t make the top two in the first round.
“The format is inspired by the FIBA World Cup. Teams from far away states need one more chance to prove their worth. It’s the best way to get all the teams motivated,” said Norman Issac, President, BFI Technical Committee.
Ramkumar, a former Indian captain and head coach of Indian Railways, feels the best part of the Senior Nations in Chennai is crowd participation, especially school children. “It’s nice to see kids coming to watch basketball and cheer for every team. The Chennai national team player is better than many countries in many ways,” he said.
Unfortunately, grassroots advertising is not preferred, feels Ramkumar. “We don’t have a Physical Education Teacher for a particular sport in our school. Whatever the sport, it should be taught to children passionately. Khelo India Games is a good tournament where young players will be discovered and prepared.”
Ramkumar said a professional league was the need of the time as it would provide Indian players with the necessary benchmark to judge their matches. “In that way, INBL 5×5 (for Indian players) announced by BFI is also good because players need more matches. A National team needs 50-60 matches per year to improve. In when in the national team, players can play a maximum of seven matches, which is not enough,” said award recipient Dhyan Chand.
Trideep Rai, former athlete of India, feels the Nation will continue to be relevant as Organizations recruit sports athletes from the Nation. But not many establishments across the country employ hoopsters, both male and female.
According to Trideep, India needs more facilities like the NBA Academy in New Delhi. “They have good facilities, good coaches, good nutrition, good gyms and the players are treated well,” he said.
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Trideep has overlooked the absence of All India tournaments in the north of India. “There was the Prithvinath tournament before that. Now that’s not there either. “
Trideep argues that national camps are for 10-15 players. “What happens to the other players? When there is a professional league like IPL in cricket, you will have more young players participating in the sport. ”
Jayasankar Menon, former captain of the India team, said, “The only way to improve the standards of Indian basketball is through a professional league.”
Jayasankar said the league should have a home and away concept to encourage fans to follow, which will give the sport a strong foothold in the minds and hearts of fans.
According to Jayashankar, the tournament will also open up different avenues for players like him. “I played for India for 11 years. But my experience is not used. If the tournament goes on, new doors will open.
“The current Indian players are physically better than our contemporaries. But technically, there’s no player who’s really dangerous on the ball,” he said.
There needs to be a major overhaul at the grassroots level. The BFI should also look to revive all-India tournaments across the country. Of course, a professional tournament is most desirable. BFI’s cup of challenge is overflowing.
