India national basketball team

India

FIBA ranking	53 8[1]
Joined FIBA	1936
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	Basketball Federation of India
Coach	Sat Prakash Yadav
Nickname(s)	Young Cagers[2]
Olympic Games
Appearances	1 (1980)
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
FIBA Asia Championship
Appearances	24
Medals	None
South Asian Games
Appearances	4
Medals	Gold: 1995, 1999, 2004 Silver: 2010
Uniforms
Light Dark

The India men's national basketball team represents India in international men's basketball. It is controlled by Basketball Federation of India.^[3]

A 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia,^[4] India has one of Asia's longest basketball traditions. Throughout its history, Team India qualified for the FIBA Asia Championship 24 times and is placed in the top-5 in appearances in this tournament. Further, India's basketball team won three gold medals and one silver medal at the South Asian Games.^[5] Team India celebrated its most recent title at the 2014 Lusofonia Games after they finished the tournament with a 4-0 record and beat Angola in the final.^[6]

Its most famous moment came at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup with the win against home favorties China men's national basketball team by 7 points.^[3][7] This win has been labelled as the "biggest basketball win in the nation's history."^[8]

History

1965-1975

India appeared at the international stage for the first time ever at the 1965 Asian Basketball Championship where it started out as moderately competitive. Khushi Ram who captained the Indian team stood as second best scorer at the 1965 Asian Basketball Championship and even in 1967 and 1969 Asian Championship as well. In the following years, India became a regular at the event and had their most successful tournament in 1975 when the team even reached the final four.^[9]

1980-2010

1980 Olympics

Plagued by a lack of popularity and support for basketball at home, at times, India faded into oblivion and only had a handful of successful performances. Its most noteworthy tournament appearance was at the 1980 Summer Olympics when the team got its chance to represent Asia due to the cancellations of some teams who took part in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. A few of the world's top basketball powers at that time (such as the United States and Canada) withdrew from the tournament. India finished 12th out of 12 in the Olympics after getting knocked out in the Preliminary Round by losing all three of their matches and then losing all five of their matches in the Classification round.

While the results did not go India's way one game in particular caught the attention of basketball fans worldwide. India played against the Australian Team, one of the world's top basketball teams. India, which was made up solely of voluntary basketball players competed against the elite team of Australia for almost the whole game until it finally ceded to the Boomers 75-93 after leading at halftime 41-37.^[10]

Many Indian players also made headlines while in the Soviet Union as well. Ajmer Singh gained worldwide attention as he was amongst the top 10 shooters there and became the 10th best pivot player in the tournament there.

1990-2010

Kanteerava Indoor Stadium has served the national team for training sessions.^[11]

The late 90s saw the emergence of Sozhasingarayer Robinson, the first Indian basketball player who gained considerable international attention. Robinson led India to a surprising victory over South Korea, one of Asia's top teams.^[12] Later, he became the first Indian player ever to get a contract offer from another continent when he signed for Negar sang Sharekord in Iran.

In 2005, however, Robinson complained that the structure and support for basketball in India was still mediocre and government officials did not do enough to support the sport. As a protest, he retired from the national team.^[13]

2010-present

At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship India was coached by former Sacramento Kings head coach Kenny Natt.^[14] Further, for the first time ever, India had its own strength and conditioning coach. Even though the team lost most games, its performance against Lebanon, which had made it to the final four at the previous tournament, superseded expectations.

In 2012, former NBA D-League and U.S. college coach, Scott Flemming, took over the team. Under his supervision, the team won the South Asia Championship in 2014. India had two wins and finished 3 places higher (11th) in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship than in 2011.^[15] In 2014, the Young Cagers (as team India is often nicknamed) won the Lusofonia games with wins over Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Angola in the gold medal game. This was Team India's first title ever against non-Asian competition. In the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup India pulled off the biggest win in their 80-year history by defeated China on their home court 65-58. The establishment of a professional league will be a major step in continuing this recent success the Indian team has experienced. In 2011, plans for the establishment thereof were officially agreed upon.^[16]

Competitive record

Olympic Games Year Round Position Pld W L 1936–1976 Did not qualify 1980 Preliminary Round 12th 8 0 8 1984–2016 Did not qualify 2020 To be determined Total Preliminary Round 1/17 8 0 8

FIBA World Championship Year Round Position Pld W L 1950–2014 Did not qualify 2019 To be determined Total 0 Titles 0/16 0 0 0

Asia Championship

FIBA Asia Champions Cup

• best performance: 2007 : 7th
• worst performance: 2003 : 9th

Since 2003, the majority of India’s national basketball players compete under the team name "Young Cagers" at the annual Asian Club Championships.^[17]

Team

Current roster

2015 FIBA Asia Championship.

Head coach: Sat Prakash Yadav

#	Pos	Name	Club	Date of Birth	Height
3	F	Vinay Kaushik	Income Tax	(1991-08-30)30 August 1991 (aged 24)	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
4	G	Rajesh Prakash Uppar	Vijaya Bank	(1991-01-20)20 January 1991 (aged 24)	1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
7	G	Siddhant Sanjay Shinde	Customs	(1991-06-15)15 June 1991 (aged 24)	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
9	G	Vishesh Bhriguvanshi	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation	(1991-09-13)13 September 1991 (aged 24)	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
10	C	Amritpal Singh	Tokyo Excellence	(1991-01-05)5 January 1991 (aged 24)	2.07 m (6 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
13	F	Vikas Kumar	Haryana Police	(1988-11-13)13 November 1988 (aged 26)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
14	F	Yadwinder Singh	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation	(1986-12-30)30 December 1986 (aged 28)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
15	F	Arvind Arumugam	Vijaya Bank	(1991-01-28)28 January 1991 (aged 24)	1.97 m (6 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
22	F	Amjyot Singh	Tokyo Excellence	(1992-01-27)27 January 1992 (aged 23)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
66	G	Akilan Pari	Income Tax	(1989-07-20)20 July 1989 (aged 26)	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
69	C	Akashdeep Hazra	Indian Railways	(1996-07-01)1 July 1996 (aged 19)	2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)
96	F	Gurvinder Singh Gill	Punjab	(1996-01-21)21 January 1996 (aged 19)	2.00 m (6 ft 6 1⁄2 in)

Depth Chart

Head Coach history

Past rosters

Scroll down to see more.

1980 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 12 teams

Baldev Singh, Ajmer Singh, Parvez Diniar, Dilip Gurumurthy, Harbhajan Singh, Jorawar Singh, Amarnath Nagarajan, Pramdiph Singh, Paramjit Singh, Radhey Shyam, Hanuman Singh, Tarlok Singh Sandhu

1997 Asian Championship: finished 11th among 15 teams

Pankaj Malik, B.S. Gowtham, Gagnesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, N. Appla Raju, Parmindar Singh, Nishant Kumar, Virendar Joshi, Jaldeep Dhaliwal, D. Swaminathan, Srikant Reddy (Coach: Major N.K. Singh)

1999 Asian Championship: not qualified

2001 Asian Championship: finished 8th among 14 teams

Vinay Kumaryadan, J.Murli, B.J. Jadeja, Mohit Bhandari, S.Sridhar, Parmindar Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Austin Almeida, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Suresh Ranot, M.S. Sabeer Ahamed, Des Raj (Coach: Keshav Kumar Chansoria)

2003 Asian Championship: finished 8th among 16 teams

Sambhaji Kadam, Gagnesh Kumar, Mihir Pandey, S. Gopinath, S.Sridhar, Parmindar Singh, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Riyaz Uddin, Snehpal Singh, Des Raj

2005 Asian Championship: finished 12th among 16 teams

Sambhaji Kadam, Shiv Kumar, Mihir Pandey, Anoop Mukkanniyil, Yadwinder Singh, Rajanna Sanjay Raj, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Riyaz Uddin, Talwinderjit Singh, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Jay Prakash Singh)

2007 Asian Championship: finished 15th among 16 teams

Sambhaji Kadam, Shiv Kumar, Ravikumar Krishnasamy, Anoop Mukkanniyil, Roshan Thankachan Padavetiyil, Rajanna Sanjay Raj, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Dilawar Singh, Riyaz Uddin, Lokesh Yodav, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan)

2009 Asian Championship: finished 13th among 16 teams

Sambhaji Kadam, Talwinderjit Singh, Hareesh Koroth, Harpalsinh Vaghela, Sunil Kumar Rathee, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Prakash Mishra, Vineeth Revi Mathew, Abhilek Paul, Jayram Jat, Dinesh Comibatore, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan)

2011 Asian Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams

2011 India National Basketball Team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – DOB Ht. Club 5.0 !C 4 Singh, Amjyot 7001200000000000000♠20 – (1992-01-27)27 January 1992 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) 5.0 !C 5 Bhamara, Satnam Singh 7001160000000000000♠16 – (1995-10-12)12 October 1995 85 !7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) IMG Academy 1.5 !G 6 Koroth, Hareesh 7001270000000000000♠27 – (1984-11-12)12 November 1984 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Tamil Nadu (Amateur) 1.5 !G 7 Mishra, Prakash 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1982-08-05)5 August 1982 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) 5.0 !C 8 Shah, Dishant Vipul 7001200000000000000♠20 – (1992-01-03)3 January 1992 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Gujarat (Amateur) 1.5 !G 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh 7001200000000000000♠20 – (1991-09-13)13 September 1991 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) 3.5 !F 10 Singh, Amitpal 7001280000000000000♠28 – (1984-01-28)28 January 1984 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) 3.5 !F 11 Garewal, Narender Kumar 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1983-04-20)20 April 1983 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Services (Amateur) 3.5 !F 12 Rai, Trideep 7001290000000000000♠29 – (1983-07-04)4 July 1983 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Uttarakhand (Amateur) 2.0 !SG 13 Singh, Talwinderjit 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1986-10-26)26 October 1986 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) 5.0 !C 14 Singh, Yadwinder 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1986-12-30)30 December 1986 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) 5.0 !C 15 Singh, Jagdeep 7001190000000000000♠19 – (1993-01-10)10 January 1993 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Punjab Police (Amateur)	Head coach Kenny Natt Assistant coach(es) Rajinder Singh Pawan Kumer Zak Penwell Legend (C) Captain Club denotes current pro club

2013 Asian Championship: finished 11th among 15 teams

India National Basketball Team: 2013 FIBA Asia Championship roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – DOB Ht. Club 1.0 !PG 4 Kadam, Sambhaji 7001330000000000000♠33 – (1980-03-15)March 15, 1980 69 !5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Services (amateur) 1.5 !G 5 Grewal, Narender Kumar 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1988-06-25)June 25, 1988 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Services (amateur) 3.5 !F 6 Singh, Pratham 7001220000000000000♠22 – (1991-01-10)January 10, 1991 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Tamil Nadu 3.5 !F 7 Kaushik, Vinay 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1991-08-30)August 30, 1991 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 3.5 !F 8 Singh, Arjun 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1992-06-08)June 8, 1992 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N.W. Railway 3.5 !F 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) ONGC 5.0 !C 10 Singh, Amritpal 7001220000000000000♠22 – (1991-01-05)January 5, 1991 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Punjab Police (amateur) 1.0 !PG 11 Singh, Joginder 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1988-05-27)May 27, 1988 69 !5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Services (amateur) 5.0 !C 12 Bhamara, Satnam Singh 7001170000000000000♠17 – (1995-12-10)December 10, 1995 88 !7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) IMG Academy 3.5 !F 13 Singh, Amjyot 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1992-01-27)January 27, 1992 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Punjab Police (amateur) 3.5 !F 14 Singh, Yadwinder 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1986-12-30)December 30, 1986 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Indian Railways (amateur) 5.0 !C 15 Pethani, Rikin Shantilal 7001220000000000000♠22 – (1990-12-02)December 2, 1990 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Tamil Nadu	Head coach Scott William Flemming (US) Assistant coach(es) Jora SINGH (India)

2014 Asian Games: finished 12th among 16 teams

India men's national basketball team - 2014 Asian Games roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – DOB Ht. Club 1.5 !G 4 Singh, Joginder 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1988-05-27)May 27, 1988 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Indian Air Force IND ! 4.0 !PF 5 Grewal, Narender Kumar 7001260000000000000♠26 – (1988-06-25)June 25, 1988 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Indian Air Force IND ! 1.0 !PG 6 Pari, Akilan 7001250000000000000♠25 – (1989-07-20)July 20, 1989 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Income Tax IND ! 2.0 !SG 7 Mishra, Prakash 7001320000000000000♠32 – (1982-05-08)May 8, 1982 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Indian Railways IND ! 4.0 !PF 8 Singh, Pratham 7001230000000000000♠23 – (1991-01-10)January 10, 1991 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Indian Overseas Bank IND ! 4.0 !PF 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh 7001230000000000000♠23 – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation IND ! 5.0 !C 10 Singh, Amritpal (C) 7001230000000000000♠23 – (1991-01-05)January 5, 1991 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation IND ! 4.0 !PF 11 Sivakumar, Prasanna Venkatesh 7001210000000000000♠21 – (1992-09-25)September 25, 1992 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Indian Overseas Bank IND ! 5.0 !C 12 Brar, Palpreet Singh 7001200000000000000♠20 – (1994-01-03)January 3, 1994 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Punjab IND ! 3.5 !F 13 Singh, Amjyot 7001220000000000000♠22 – (1992-01-27)January 27, 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Indian Overseas Bank IND ! 4.0 !PF 14 Singh, Yadwinder 7001270000000000000♠27 – (1986-12-30)December 30, 1986 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation IND ! 5.0 !C 15 Pethani, Rikin Shantilal 7001230000000000000♠23 – (1990-12-02)December 2, 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Indian Overseas Bank IND !	Head coach Scott William Flemming Assistant coach(es) Rama Linga Prasad Guntupalli Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on September 19, 2014

Kit

Manufacturer

2015: Roox ^[18]

See also

• Basketball Federation of India
• Basketball in India
• India women's national basketball team
• India national under-19 basketball team
• India national under-17 basketball team
• India national 3x3 team

References

External links

• Official website
• FIBA profile
• India Basketball Records at FIBA Archive
• Asia-basket - India Men National Team
• Presentation on Facebook

Basketball in India Basketball Federation of India National teams India national basketball team India women's national basketball team National Tournaments Indian National Basketball Championship for Men Indian National Basketball Championship for Women National Junior Tournaments Indian National Junior Basketball Championship for Men Indian National Junior Basketball Championship for Women National Youth Tournaments Indian National Youth Basketball Championship for Men Indian National Youth Basketball Championship for Women State Tournaments Master Prithvinath Memorial Don Bosco Invitational Tournament Ramu Memorial

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