Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (born 13 November 1991) is an Indian professional

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 ...

player who is the captain of the Indian National Basketball Team, and most recently, a player with the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). Bhriguvanshi was awarded the Arjuna Award by Govt. of India for the year 2020. Bhriguvanshi also has a biography by Nirupma Baghley, titled ''Vishesh: Code To Win'', about him being India’s youngest captain.

Early life

Bhriguvanshi was born and brought up in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. His father was a lecturer and mother a principal in a Govt. College. As a 12-year-old, Vishesh would follow his brother, Vibhor, to the basketball courts of Udai Pratap College in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. His career began with participation in the Varanasi U-13 district meet. Bhriguvanshi has represented his district and state and at the age of 17, he was recruited to the Senior Indian men's team.

Professional career

Bhriguvanshi began playing competitive basketball in 2009 at the Asian Club Championships. In 2017, Bhriguvanshi averaged 30.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists in 11 games for

Bengaluru Beast The Bengaluru Beast was an Indian professional basketball team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The team last competed in India's UBA Pro Basketball League as a member of the South Division along with three other teams. The team was establi ...

in the United Basketball Alliance of India Pro Basketball League. In one match against rival Hyderabad, he poured in 57 points and registered 11 assists. On 7 July 2017, Bhriguvanshi signed a one-year training deal with the

of the Australian National Basketball League, becoming the league's first Indian player. He did not appear in a game for the 36ers during the 2017–18 NBL season. He is the first Indian to be signed by Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) in 2017.

National team career

Bhriguvanshi made his debut for the

India national basketball team The India men's national basketball team represents India in international men's basketball. It is controlled by Basketball Federation of India.http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/FIBA/fibaStru/nfLeag/nfProf.asp?nationalFederationNumber=301 FIBA. ...

in 2009 at the FIBA Asia Championship. He has since competed at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, 2014 FIBA Asia Cup, 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, and

2016 FIBA Asia Challenge The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge was the 6th FIBA Asia Challenge, an international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia which was hosted by Iran from 9–18 September 2016. This tournament served as the first step in determining the process of the quali ...

. At the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in Iran, Bhriguvanshi averaged a career-best 16.9 points per game, to go with 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals in eight games.

Championship

Bhriguvanshi has helped

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 ...

to win a 3x3 basketball gold medal at the Asian Beach Games in 2008 and has since been playing in every major FIBA Asia Championship and representing

. He has won three national champions domestically with Indian Railways and, in 2011, was appointed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation as its

Brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person engaged by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to emb ...

References

External links

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi's profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhriguvanshi, Vishesh 1991 births Living people Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2014 Asian Games Basketball players from Varanasi Indian expatriates in Australia Indian men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Young Cagers players Asian Games competitors for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in basketball