India look to assert supremacy

New-look hosts take on Nepal in opener as they eye spot in Asian meet

Troubles surrounding basketball in India will take a back seat when the national side start their campaign in the South Asian Championship at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here on Friday.

The defending champions will be up against Nepal firstbefore locking  horns with Bangladesh in the evening session.

Coming into the six-team  tournament on the back of a two-week long camp, where they waited in vain for the chief coach to arrive, no one will be blamed if the Indian hoopsters take time to get into their groove. But skipper Rikin Pethani had other thoughts.

“I know S Bhaskar (the interim coach) is yet to join the team. But that hasn’t stopped us from preparing well for the tournament,” said the Tamil Nadu player.

“(Reginald) Rajan came in earlier, while (GLR) Prasad took over later, so that was not a problem. And moreover, the players are self motivated to do well, so that has also helped in shaping up the side,” he added.

Quality back-ups
Though the team will be without a handful of senior players like Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh, Pethani said the side was prepared to cope with their absence with quality back-ups filling in for the senior members.

“Yes, we will miss the guys (senior players). But, that’s how the sport is. Looking at the roster, I do not think that there is a problem in the side. We have good back-up players to fill in for these guys,” said the 6’ 8” centre.

With a win here landing them in a group containing Japan, Malaysia and Asian heavyweights Iran at the Asian Championships, Pethani said it would be great opportunity for the side to take on some of the big names in the continent.

“Yes, it is a difficult group to be in. But I don’t see that as a problem, in fact it’s an opportunity for us to prove our calibre against the big boys. We have done well against Japan in the past and we will give our best against Malaysia and Iran, if we go through,” said the skipper.

The Indian side will have as many as four debutants with forwards Vinay Kaushik and Vikash Kumar filling in for Yadwinder and Amjyot, while Akashdeep Hazara and Karnataka’s Arvind A will step in for Amritpal and Bhriguvanshi.

“We have a well balanced side, with a proper blend of experience and youth. Few guys have played these type of tournaments in the past, so their experience will be handy,” said Rajan, who is also a part of the national selection panel.

The Indians will be relying heavily on their experienced duo of Narendra Grewal and Venkatesh Prasanna to lead the attack, while point guard Joginder Sharma will be key to their success defensively.

Skipper Pethani is expected to provide the side with stability, while his presence will also help in earning valuable rebounds for the team who are expected to face a stern challenge from the likes of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Indian squad: Rikin Pethani (capt), Joginder Sharma, Narendra Grewal, Pari Akhilan, Vikash Kumar, Pratham Singh, Arvind A, Vinay Kaushik, Akashdeep Hazra, Gurvinder Singh Gill, A Aravind, Prasanna Venkatesh, GLR Prasad (coach), Goutam Ganguly (manager).