India national basketball team

India

FIBA ranking	53 8
Joined FIBA	1936
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	Basketball Federation of India
Coach	Sat Prakash Yadav
Nickname(s)	Young Cagers
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.

A 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia, 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. 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.

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. This win has been labelled as the "biggest basketball win in the nation's history."

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.

1980-2010

1980 Olympics

Main article: Basketball at the 1980 Summer 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.

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.

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. 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.

2010-present

At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship India was coached by former Sacramento Kings head coach Kenny Natt. 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. 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.

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

Year	Position	Tournament	Host
1965	7	1965 ABC Championship	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1967	6	1967 ABC Championship	Seoul, South Korea
1969	5	1969 ABC Championship	Bangkok, Thailand
1971	6	1971 ABC Championship	Tokyo, Japan
1973	6	1973 ABC Championship	Manila, Philippines
1975	4	1975 ABC Championship	Bangkok, Thailand
1977	7	1977 ABC Championship	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1979	5	1979 ABC Championship	Nagoya, Japan
1981	5	1981 ABC Championship	Kolkata, India
1983	6	1983 ABC Championship	Hong Kong
1985	10	1985 ABC Championship	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1987	6	1987 ABC Championship	Bangkok, Thailand
1989	6	1989 ABC Championship	Beijing, China
1991	13	1991 ABC Championship	Kobe, Japan
1995	13	1995 ABC Championship	Seoul, South Korea
1997	11	1997 ABC Championship	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2001	8	2001 ABC Championship	Shanghai, China
2003	8	2003 ABC Championship	Harbin, China
2005	12	2005 FIBA Asia Championship	Doha, Qatar
2007	15	2007 FIBA Asia Championship	Tokushima, Japan
2009	13	2009 FIBA Asia Championship	Tianjin, China
2011	14	2011 FIBA Asia Championship	Wuhan, China
2013	11	2013 FIBA Asia Championship	Manila, Philippines
2015	8	2015 FIBA Asia Championship	Changsha, China
2017	To be determined	2017 FIBA Asia Championship	To be determined

Asian Games

• 1951 : 4th
• 1954-66 : Did not qualify
• 1970 : 6th
• 1974-78 : Did not qualify
• 1982 : 8th
• 1986-2002 : Did not qualify
• 2006 : 17th
• 2010 : 11th
• 2014 : 9th
• 2018 : To be determined

FIBA South Asia Championship

• 2002 :
• 2013 : Did not participate
• 2014 :
• 2015 :

South Asian Games

• 1995 :
• 1999 :
• 2004 :
• 2010 :
• 2018 : To be determined

Lusofonia Games

• 2006 : Did not participate
• 2009 : Did not participate
• 2014 :
• 2017 : To be determined

Commonwealth Games

• 2006 : 8th
• 2018 : To be determined

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.

Team

Current roster

2015 FIBA Asia Championship.

India men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – DOB Ht. Club F 3 Vinay Kaushik – (1991-08-30)August 30, 1991 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Income Tax G 4 Rajesh Prakash Uppar – (1991-01-20)January 20, 1991 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) Vijaya Bank G 7 Siddhant Sanjay Shinde – (1991-06-15)June 15, 1991 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Customs G 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation C 10 Singh, Amritpal (C) – (1991-01-05)January 5, 1991 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Tokyo Excellence F 13 Vikas Kumar – (1988-11-13)November 13, 1988 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Haryana Police PF 14 Singh, Yadwinder – (1986-12-30)December 30, 1986 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation F 15 Arvind Arumugam – (1991-01-28)January 28, 1991 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Vijaya Bank F 22 Singh, Amjyot – (1992-01-27)January 27, 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Tokyo Excellence G 66 Akilan Pari – (1989-07-20)July 20, 1989 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Income Tax C 69 Akashdeep Hazra – (1996-07-01)July 1, 1996 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Indian Railways F 96 Gurvinder Singh Gill – (1996-01-21)January 21, 1996 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Punjab	Head coach Sat Prakash Yadav Assistant coach(es) Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on September 23, 2015

Depth Chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench	Inactive
C	Amritpal Singh	Akashdeep Hazra
PF	Amjyot Singh	Gurvinder Singh Gill		Sozhasingarayer Robinson
SF	Yadwinder Singh	Arumugam Aravind
SG	Akilan Pari	Vinay Kaushin	Narender Kumar
PG	Vishesh Bhriguvanshi	Rajesh Uppar	Siddhant Shinde

Notable players

Singh (left) with the Indian national team in 2013

Other current notable players from India:

India roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr. C Satnam Singh – (1995-12-10)10 December 1995 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) Texas Legends F Sai Tummala – (1993-01-16)16 January 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 10 February 2016

Head Coach history

3

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 C 4 Singh, Amjyot – (1992-01-27)27 January 1992 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) C 5 Bhamara, Satnam Singh – (1995-10-12)12 October 1995 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) IMG Academy G 6 Koroth, Hareesh – (1984-11-12)12 November 1984 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Tamil Nadu (Amateur) G 7 Mishra, Prakash – (1982-08-05)5 August 1982 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) C 8 Shah, Dishant Vipul – (1992-01-03)3 January 1992 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Gujarat (Amateur) G 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh – (1991-09-13)13 September 1991 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) F 10 Singh, Amitpal – (1984-01-28)28 January 1984 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) F 11 Garewal, Narender Kumar – (1983-04-20)20 April 1983 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Services (Amateur) F 12 Rai, Trideep – (1983-07-04)4 July 1983 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Uttarakhand (Amateur) SG 13 Singh, Talwinderjit – (1986-10-26)26 October 1986 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Punjab Police (Amateur) C 14 Singh, Yadwinder – (1986-12-30)30 December 1986 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Indian Railways (Amateur) C 15 Singh, Jagdeep – (1993-01-10)10 January 1993 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 PG 4 Kadam, Sambhaji – (1980-03-15)March 15, 1980 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Services (amateur) G 5 Grewal, Narender Kumar – (1988-06-25)June 25, 1988 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Services (amateur) F 6 Singh, Pratham – (1991-01-10)January 10, 1991 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Tamil Nadu F 7 Kaushik, Vinay – (1991-08-30)August 30, 1991 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) F 8 Singh, Arjun – (1992-06-08)June 8, 1992 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N.W. Railway F 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) ONGC C 10 Singh, Amritpal – (1991-01-05)January 5, 1991 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Punjab Police (amateur) PG 11 Singh, Joginder – (1988-05-27)May 27, 1988 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Services (amateur) C 12 Bhamara, Satnam Singh – (1995-12-10)December 10, 1995 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) IMG Academy F 13 Singh, Amjyot – (1992-01-27)January 27, 1992 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Punjab Police (amateur) F 14 Singh, Yadwinder – (1986-12-30)December 30, 1986 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Indian Railways (amateur) C 15 Pethani, Rikin Shantilal – (1990-12-02)December 2, 1990 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 G 4 Singh, Joginder – (1988-05-27)May 27, 1988 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Indian Air Force PF 5 Grewal, Narender Kumar – (1988-06-25)June 25, 1988 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Indian Air Force PG 6 Pari, Akilan – (1989-07-20)July 20, 1989 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Income Tax SG 7 Mishra, Prakash – (1982-05-08)May 8, 1982 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Indian Railways PF 8 Singh, Pratham – (1991-01-10)January 10, 1991 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Indian Overseas Bank PF 9 Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh – (1991-09-13)September 13, 1991 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation C 10 Singh, Amritpal (C) – (1991-01-05)January 5, 1991 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation PF 11 Sivakumar, Prasanna Venkatesh – (1992-09-25)September 25, 1992 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Indian Overseas Bank C 12 Brar, Palpreet Singh – (1994-01-03)January 3, 1994 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Punjab F 13 Singh, Amjyot – (1992-01-27)January 27, 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Indian Overseas Bank PF 14 Singh, Yadwinder – (1986-12-30)December 30, 1986 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation C 15 Pethani, Rikin Shantilal – (1990-12-02)December 2, 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Indian Overseas Bank	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

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

External links

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

Videos

• India v Japan - Group B - Game Highlights - 2015 FIBA Asia Championship Youtube.com video