Indian cagers eye greener pastures on Australian shores

AFTER RECENT forays into Japan and the NBA in the United States, Indian basketball is taking a step towards the Australian League. Four of the biggest names of the national team - Amjyot Singh Gill, Amritpal Singh, Yadwinder Singh and captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi - are currently in Melbourne for the two-day National Basketball League (NBL) Draft Combine. The quartet is among 80 probables vying for spots in the roster of one of the eight NBL teams for the 2017-18 season that starts in October.

The structure of the NBL Draft Combine is different to that of the NBA and NBA Dleague. Teams from both the first and second divisions come to watch the probables conduct offensive and defensive drills, along with maybe a practice match. “It’s to help them get enough data to analyse the players,” says Vishnu Ravi Shankar, manager for Amjyot and Amritpal.

According to NBL rules, players coming from FIBA Asia countries do not count as ‘foreign players.’ As such, the Indians will have an advantage when it comes to getting a look in since they do not take up any of the three foreign player quota places, or be in competition with American or European candidates. “Our only competition is against the Chinese players now,” Shankar adds.

Both Amjyot and Amritpal have experience of playing in a professional league abroad. The pair enjoyed two successful seasons playing in the second division of the league in Japan. They are also considered the finest cagers the country has produced.

Amjyot, a 25-year-old from Chandigarh, stands at six-foot-eight and is a naturally gifted power forward. He’s adept at driving inside the circle and also shooting from three-point range. A year older, Amritpal is a towering seven-footer, who is dominant under the net.

Bhriguvanshi has been among the longer serving members of the national team. The 25-year-old point guard from Varanasi is captain of the national team and stands at sixfoot-four. “He’s a very patient player and doesn’t get rushed into making decisions,” says former captain Sambhaji Kadam. “He controls the team well and dictates the pace. He’s also recently built up his body a bit more to help him play a more physical game.”

As for Yadwinder, the 30-year-old made his debut in the Indian team when he was just 17, back in 2003. Among the first players to be groomed under the tutelage of legendary coach S Subramanian, the six-footsix cager is an explosive power forward. His wiry frame disguises his strength and ability to drive into the circle. “He’s a very aggressive player in attack, but is equally strong in defence, particularly his rebounding skills,” Kadam adds.

The four Indians will come up against a collection of American college players, local state league players and junior Australian players from the U-18 and U-20 teams. ■ Rafael Nadal, the fourth seed at the Monte Carlo Masters, has a chance to win three different clay court tournaments 10 times. He has nine titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and at Roland Garros. ■ If he triumphs at Roland Garros, he will become only the second player to win a single Grand Slam singles title at least 10 times, the other being Margaret Court with 11 titles at the Australian Open. ■ Another clay-court crown would be Nadal's 50th on the surface, breaking the tie he is in with Argentine legend Guillermo Vilas over the Open Era. Nadal’s last title was at Barcelona, 2016. ■ Djokovic is the leader in terms of the ATP Masters 1000 titles with 30. But Nadal is just two behind. If he makes a clean sweep of crowns — in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome— he can go ahead.

AMJYOT SINGH GILL