Bhriguvanshi keen to make up for lost time

Former India captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi is keen to make up for the lost time after a serious knee injury kept him out of action for almost a year.

The shooting guard sustained the injury during a BRICS Games encounter against China in Guangzhou in June 2017. In September that year, he was back on the court representing ONGC at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, but the injury resurfaced, and this time, it kept him out for good.

"First I got a jerk during the BRICS Games then I did my rehabilitation (and returned to action). After that, I played the Champions Cup in China where the injury resurfaced and got worse. I was out for almost one year," recalled Bhriguvanshi.

That one year saw him miss out on a number of tournaments. "I missed a lot of games last year. There were a lot of events like World Cup qualifiers and the Commonwealth Games," he said.

The injury also took away his chance to play in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). The ONGC player had signed a one-year deal with Adelaide 36ers, which would have made him the first Indian to play in the Australian league, but it wasn't to be. "When I got injured I was about to go to Australia to play in NBL for Adelaide 36ers. But because of the knee injury, I couldn't go," he said.

Now fully recovered and back in the mix, the Indian basketball star is eager to don the Indian colours again. "I am perfectly fine now and doing good. I plan to take part in every game India has to play and make the country proud again. Till 2017, we were playing really well but in 2018 the performance was really low. We'll try to make it higher," he offered.

Bhriguvanshi was named the captain of the senior men's team on Saturday for the qualifying rounds of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup in China on May 22 and 23. And he is looking forward to make the most of it. "This is a very high-intensity game. Luck also plays a part in this format. You have to give everything in 10 minutes. One moment you are making a basket and in another, you're back defending," he said.

"Now that I'm coming back, I will just work hard on the basketball court. For now, I am just focusing on the Indian team."

Raspreet Sidhu will lead the senior women's team, which also includes Karnataka's Bhandavya HM.

Squads: Men: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Uttarakhand, captain), Yadwinder Singh (Uttarakhand), Akilan PAri (Tamil Nadu), Ashpreet Singh Bhullar (Punjab).

Women: Raspreet Sidhu (Delhi, captain), Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra), Bhandavya HM (Karnataka), Sreekala Rani (Kerala).