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.[3] The team made significant improvements as the sports of basketball is becoming more popular.[4]
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| FIBA ranking | 82  1 (1 March 2024)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Joined FIBA | 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Asia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National federation | Basketball Federation of India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Veselin Matić | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Young Cagers[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIBA Asia Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SABA Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals |  Gold : (2002, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Asian Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | Gold : (1987, 1991, 1995, 2019) Silver: (2010) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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A 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia,[5] India has one of Asia's longest basketball traditions. Throughout its history, Team India qualified for the FIBA Asia Championship 26 times and is placed in the top five in appearances in this tournament. Further, India's basketball team won four gold medals and one silver medal at the South Asian Games and became the most successful team in the South Asian region. India have also won the SABA Championship six times.[6] Team India celebrated its victory at the 2014 Lusofonia Games after they finished the tournament with a 4–0 record as they beat 11–time African Champions Angola in the final.[7]
Its most famous moment came at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup with the win against home favorites and most successful Asian team China by seven points.[3][8] This win has been labelled as the biggest basketball win in the nation's history.[9]
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 when the team even reached the final four.[10][11]
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.[12] Its most noteworthy tournament appearance was at the 1980 Summer Olympics 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.[13] A few of the world's top basketball powers at that time (such as the United States and Canada) 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.[14]
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 for almost the whole game until it finally ceded to the Boomers 75–93 after leading at halftime 41–37.[15]
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.[16] The late 90s saw the emergence of Sozhasingarayer Robinson, the first Indian basketball player who gained considerable international attention. Robinson led India to a surprising victory over South Korea, one of Asia's top teams.[17] 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.[18]
At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship India was coached by former Sacramento Kings head coach Kenny Natt.[19] 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 than in 2011.[20] In 2014, the Young Cagers (as team India is often nicknamed) won the Lusofonia games with wins over Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Angola in the gold medal game. This was Team India's first title ever in a non-Asian competition. In the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup 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.[21][22] India continued their dominance in South Asia by winning further South Asian Championships in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.[23][24][25]
- The Kanteerava Indoor Stadium hosted the SABA Championship in 2015 and 2016. India won the gold medal on both occasions. Further, Team India has frequently used the facility for training sessions[26]
- Satnam Singh Bhamara (left) with the Indian national team in 2013
- Anoop Mukkanniyil[27]
- Trideep Rai[28]
- Riyaz Uddin[29]
Summer Olympics
| Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Host city | Position |
| 1980 |  Moscow, Soviet Union |
12th |
FIBA Asia Cup
| Year | Rank | M | W | L | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1960 | did not enter | ||||||
 1963 | |||||||
 1965 | 7th place | 7 | 4 | 3 | 491 | 542 | -51 |
 1967 | 6th place | 9 | 5 | 4 | 709 | 797 | -88 |
 1969 | 5th place | 8 | 4 | 4 | 748 | 720 | +28 |
 1971 | 6th place | 8 | 3 | 5 | 563 | 632 | -69 |
| 1973 | 6th place | 10 | 3 | 7 | 744 | 902 | -158 |
| 1975 | 4th place | 8 | 5 | 3 | 754 | 728 | +26 |
| 1977 | 7th place | 9 | 7 | 2 | 957 | 776 | +181 |
| 1979 | 5th place | 7 | 3 | 4 | 539 | 604 | -65 |
 1981 | 5th place | 7 | 3 | 4 | 521 | 511 | +10 |
 1983 | 6th place | 5 | 2 | 3 | 298 | 310 | -12 |
| 1985 | 10th place | 6 | 3 | 3 | 585 | 459 | +126 |
| 1987 | 6th place | 7 | 2 | 5 | 518 | 608 | -90 |
 1989 | 6th place | 6 | 2 | 4 | 472 | 520 | -48 |
| 1991 | 13th place | 7 | 2 | 5 | 575 | 596 | -21 |
 1993 | did not enter | ||||||
| 1995 | 13th place | 8 | 4 | 4 | 537 | 558 | -21 |
 1997 | 11th place | 6 | 3 | 3 | 433 | 409 | +24 |
| 1999 | did not enter | ||||||
| 2001 | 8th place | 6 | 1 | 5 | 406 | 508 | -102 |
| 2003 | 8th place | 7 | 2 | 5 | 551 | 678 | -127 |
 2005 | 12th place | 7 | 3 | 4 | 545 | 578 | -33 |
| 2007 | 15th place | 7 | 2 | 5 | 468 | 627 | -159 |
| 2009 | 13th place | 5 | 2 | 3 | 371 | 415 | -44 |
| 2011 | 14th place | 5 | 1 | 4 | 283 | 310 | -27 |
| 2013 | 11th place | 8 | 2 | 6 | 532 | 641 | -109 |
| 2015 | 8th place | 9 | 3 | 6 | 669 | 789 | -120 |
 2017 | 14th place | 3 | 0 | 3 | 186 | 249 | -63 |
| 2022 | 16th place | 3 | 0 | 3 | 169 | 305 | -136 |
| 2025 | to be determined | ||||||
| Total | 26/30 | 178 | 71 | 107 | 13,624 | 14,772 | -1,148 |
Asian Games
Asia Challenge
SABA Championship
Commonwealth Games
| Commonwealth Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Host city | Position |
| 2006 |  Melbourne, Australia |
8th |
| 2018 | Gold Coast, Australia |
8th |
South Asian Games
Lusofonia Games
| Lusofonia Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Host city | Position |
| 2014 | Goa, India |
1st |
Intercontinental
Continental
Lauro Mumar
Major N.K. Singh - 1997- Keshav Kumar Chansoria - 2001
- Jay Prakash Singh - 2005
Zoran Lukić - 2006- Mahender Rathor - 2007
- Aleksandar Bućan - 2007–2010
Bill Harris - 2010–2011- Kenny Natt - 2011–2012
- Keshav Kumar Chansoria (interim) - 2012
- Scott Flemming - 2012–2015
- Sat Prakash Yadav - 2015–2017
- CV Sunny (interim) - 2017
- Bhaskar Sappaniambalam (interim) - 2017
- Phil Weber (interim) - 2017[31]
- Zoran Višić - 2017–2019
- Veselin Matić - 2019–present
1980 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 12 teams[32]
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, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, 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, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, 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, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, 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, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Prakash Mishra, Vineeth Revi Mathew, Abhilek Paul, Jayram Jat, Dinesh Comibatore, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan)
2011 Asian Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams
| 2011 India National Basketball Team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2013 Asian Championship: finished 11th among 15 teams
| India National Basketball Team: 2013 FIBA Asia Championship roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014 Asian Games: finished 12th among 16 teams
| India men's national basketball team - 2014 Asian Games roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- 2015 FIBA Asia Championship "finished 8th Among 16 qualified teams in Asia "
| India men's national basketball team - 2015 FIBA Asia Championship roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016 FIBA Asia Challenge "finished 7th Among 12 qualified teams in Asia "
| India men's national basketball team – 2017 FIBA Asia Cup roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification
| India men's national basketball team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualification
| India national basketball team – 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- BFI - About Us Archived 13 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Basketball Federation of India - Coaches Corner, accessed 4 April 2013
- Archived 13 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine FIBA.com – National Federations & Leagues
- "Basketball becoming popular". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- Jai Prakash, "Indian basketball team to feature in Dubai tournament" Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Yahoo Cricket India, 3 June 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- Pakistan basketball team named for 11th South Asian Games Archived 23 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, gz2010.cn, accessed 25 March 2012.
- "Lusofonia Games '14: Indian men win historic gold; Women settle for bronze - Ekalavyas | Ekalavyas". Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- "FIBA LiveStats". www.fibalivestats.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- "5th FIBA Asia Cup: India beats China for biggest basketball win in the nation's history - Ekalavyas | Ekalavyas". Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- "1975 Asian Championship for men". FIBA. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- "Howard tour;NBA archived posts". Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Indian basketball team: A topsy-turvy trail". Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- "The first and last time India played basketball at the Olympics". Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- Archived 3 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine FIBA: 1980 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men, archives.fiba.com, accessed 17 October 2011.
- "Indian basketball team at the 1980 Olympics". Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- http://www.taiwanhoops.com/2004/11/stankovic-cup-day-4-robinsons-36-leads.doc Archived 3 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Taiwan Hoops - Stankovic Cup Day 4 – Robinson's 36 leads India upset Korea, 81-76 , taiwanhoops.com, written 24 November 2004, accessed 13 October 2011.
- http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/04/stories/2007120411292200.htm Archived 25 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu - Sport / Basketball : Robinson not to play for India, TN, Hindu.com, written 4 Dec 2007, accessed 15 October 2011.
- "I'm here to create a superstar, says India's NBA coach Kenny Natt". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- "26th FIBA Asia Championship : Schedule & Results". Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- "Indian National Basketball League from January 4". Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "India Men's Basketball Team Win SABA Championship For Sixth Time". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "Indian men's team wins South Asian Basketball Association C'ships for sixth time". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "India crowned SABA Championship basketball winners for the sixth time". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- Kushala, S. (22 May 2002). "Do we need one more stadium?". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- "Anoop MUKKANNIYI". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "Trideep Rai". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "Riyaz UDDIN". Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "India win gold in basketball at Lusofonia Games". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- "From NBA to India: New basketball coach Phil Weber hopes to create a culture of success". Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Former Indian basketball coach Rajan passes away". 10 October 2017.
- "India at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 - FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- Official website
- FIBA profile
- India Basketball Records Archived 8 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine at FIBA Archive
- Asia-basket - India Men National Team
- Presentation on Facebook
Videos
- India v Japan - Group B - Game Highlights - 2015 FIBA Asia Championship Youtube.com video