The India men's national basketball team represents

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in international men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. It is controlled by

Basketball Federation of India The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India. It is responsible for the development and promotion of the sports authority of India at all levels. BFI manages all the national-level basketba ...

.http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/FIBA/fibaStru/nfLeag/nfProf.asp?nationalFederationNumber=301 FIBA.com – National Federations & Leagues The team made significant improvements as the sports of basketball is becoming more popular. A 1936 founding member of

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains all 44 Asian FIBA federations. Member associations Tournaments Organized by FIBA Asia National teams * FIBA Asia Cup – since 2017, also include ...

, India has one of Asia's longest basketball traditions. Throughout its history, Team India qualified for the

FIBA Asia Championship The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the tourna ...

26 times and is placed in the top–5 in appearances in this tournament. Further, India's basketball team won four gold medals and one silver medal at the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

and became the most successful team in South Asian region. India have also won the

SABA Championship The SABA Championship is a basketball tournament for national teams organized by the South Asia Basketball Association, a sub-zone of the FIBA Asia. It serves as a qualifier for various FIBA Asia events such as the FIBA Asia Championship and the ...

five times. Team India celebrated its victory at the

2014 Lusofonia Games The 2014 Lusophone Games was the 3rd edition of the Lusophone Games, a multi-sport event that represent athletes from Portuguese-speaking countries and territories. It was held from 18 to 29 January 2014 in the Indian state of Goa. Brazil and Sri ...

after they finished the tournament with a 4–0 record as they beat 11–time African Champions

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in the final. Its most famous moment came at the

2014 FIBA Asia Cup 2014 FIBA Asia Cup was the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, a top-level international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia. The tournament was held in Wuhan, Hubei, China from 11–19 July 2014. Iran won the tournament by defeating Chinese Taipei 89–79 in the f ...

with the win against home favorites and most successful Asian team

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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

History

India appeared at the international stage for the first time ever at the 1965 Asian Basketball Championship where it started out as moderately competitive. India became a regular at the event and had their most successful tournament in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

when the team even reached the final four. 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 The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

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 The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies late ...

. A few of the world's top basketball powers at that time (such as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

) 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for almost the whole game until it finally ceded to

the Boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

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. The late 90s saw the emergence of

Sozhasingarayer Robinson Sozhasingarayer Robinson , also widely known as simply S. Robinson (born 23 June 1980 in Pondicherry, India) is a professional Indian basketball player. He currently plays for the Tamil Nadu Basketball Team which competes in the India Natio ...

, the first Indian basketball player who gained considerable international attention. Robinson led India to a surprising victory over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, one of Asia's top teams. 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. At the

2011 FIBA Asia Championship The 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Men is the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that doubles as a qualifying tournament for the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Oly ...

India was coached by former

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

head coach

Kenny Natt Kenneth Wayne Natt (born October 5, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player and ex-interim head coach for the National Basketball Association's Sacramento Kings.

. 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 The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tournament was held from August 1–1 ...

than in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. In 2014, the ''Young Cagers'' (as team India is often nicknamed) won the

Lusofonia games The Lusofonia Games ( pt, Jogos da Lusofonia) is a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Most countries competing are countries that are members of ...

with wins over

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in the gold medal game. This was Team India's first title ever in a non-Asian competition. In the

India pulled off the biggest win in their 80-year history by defeating China on their home court 65–58. The establishment of a professional league was a major step in continuing this recent success the Indian team had experienced. In 2011, plans for the establishment thereof were officially agreed upon.

Gallery

File:Kanteerava Indoor 40.JPG, The

Kanteerava Indoor Stadium Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, also known as the Sree or Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, is an indoor sporting arena located in Bangalore, India, near Cubbon Park, within the heart of city in the Central Administrative Area. The capacity of the ar ...

hosted the

in 2015 and 2016. India won the gold medal on both occasions. Further, Team India has frequently used the facility for training sessions File:Satnam Singh Bhamara.jpg,

Satnam Singh Bhamara Satnam Singh Bhamara ( pa, ਸਤਨਾਮ ਸਿੰਘ ਭੰਮਰਾ; born 10 December 1995) is an Indian professional wrestler and former basketball player, currently signed to the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestlin ...

(left) with the Indian national team in 2013 File:Vishesh Bhriguvanshi.JPG,

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (born 13 November 1991) is an Indian professional basketball player who is the captain of the Indian National Basketball Team, and most recently, a player with the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League (NBL). B ...

File:Anoop Mukkanniyil.jpeg, Anoop Mukkanniyil File:Akilan Pari.JPG,

Akilan Pari Akilan Pari (born 20 July 1989) is an Indian professional basketball player. He currently plays for the Punjab Steelers of India's UBA Pro Basketball League. He is a member of India's national basketball team since 2014. As of 2018, he serves ...

File:Rikin Pethani.JPG,

Rikin Pethani Rikin Shantilal Pethani (born 2 December 1990) is an Indian professional basketball player. He currently plays for Chennai Slam of India's UBA Pro Basketball League. He was a member of India's national basketball team at the 2016 FIBA Asia C ...

File:Trideep Rai.JPG, Trideep Rai File:Yadwinder Singh.JPG, Yadwinder Singh File:Riyaz Uddin.jpeg, Riyaz Uddin

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

FIBA Asia Cup

Asian Games

Asia Challenge

SABA Championship

Commonwealth Games

South Asian Games

Lusofonia Games

Current roster

2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification

Depth chart

Head coach history

Past rosters

1980 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 12 teams

Baldev Singh Baldev Singh ( pa, ਬਲਦੇਵ ਸਿੰਘ, hi, बलदेव सिंह) (11 July 1902 – 29 June 1961) was an Indian Sikh political leader, he was an Indian independence movement leader and the first Defence Minister of India. Mor ...

, Ajmer Singh, Parvez Diniar, Dilip Gurumurthy,

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

Jorawar Singh Jorawar Singh (born 7 July 1951) is an Indian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1951 births Living people Indian men's basketball players Olympic basketba ...

, Amarnath Nagarajan, Pramdiph Singh, Paramjit Singh (c),

Radhey Shyam Radhey Shyam Vijayrania (1 May 1953 – 19 August 2006) was an Indian basketball player who represented India at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. He was the second best scorer from the Indian team averaging 14 points ...

, Hanuman Singh, Tarlok Singh Sandhu (Coach: Major Makolath Rajan) 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,

, 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,

, 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,

, 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,

, Prakash Mishra, Vineeth Revi Mathew, Abhilek Paul, Jayram Jat, Dinesh Comibatore, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan) 2011 Asian Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams 2013 Asian Championship: finished 11th among 15 teams

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

: finished 12th among 16 teams ;

2015 FIBA Asia Championship The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship was the 28th and last edition of the FIBA Asia Championship in men's basketball in Asia. It was organised by FIBA Asia. At the FIBA Asia Congress held in Doha, Qatar, the Central Board awarded the hosting rights to ...

"finished 8th Among 16 qualified teams in Asia " 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge "finished 7th Among 12 qualified teams in Asia " ;

2017 FIBA Asia Cup The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. It took place from 8 to 20 August 2017, a week earlier from the initial sche ...

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification was the first FIBA Basketball World Cup, World Cup for which teams had to qualify for under the new qualification system. The process determined 31 out of the 32 teams that participated at the 2019 ...

2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualification

Kit

Manufacturer

2015–present: Roox2015 FIBA Asia Championship – India
, FIBA.com, accessed 16 February 2016.

References

External links

Official websiteFIBA profile
at FIBA Archive
Asia-basket - India Men National TeamPresentation on Facebook

Videos

India v Japan - Group B - Game Highlights - 2015 FIBA Asia Championship
Youtube.com video {{India Men Basketball Squad 1980 Summer Olympics Men's national basketball teams 1936 establishments in India

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...