Interview with Indian men’s basketball captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi: "We aim to break into top-8 in Asia"

The Indian men’s basketball team is on a high after qualifying for the 27th FIBA Asian basketball championships slated to be held in Manila, Philippines from August 1-11.

The ‘Young Cagers’ put up an impressive performance in the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) qualifiers. The Indian hoopsters first drubbed Nepal 109-26 in their first league match before getting the better of Afghanistan 64-46 to seal the lone qualifying spot from the South Asian region.

The national men’s team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led his boys from the front and helped the team sail past the SABA qualifying hurdle. The Varanasi lad took over as captain of the Indian men’s basketball team at the age of 18 and remained at the helm since.

Born into a teaching family – his father is a teacher while his mother is a principal in a Varanasi school – Vishesh is pursuing his BA through the distance education route.

He talks about India’s prospects in the upcoming 27th FIBA Asian basketball championship and much more in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

India performed well in the SABA qualifiers and made it to the 27th FIBA Asian basketball championships. Your thoughts?

We are happy to have qualified for the Asian championship. We won both our matches quite comfortable, although Afghanistan gave us a run for our money. The real challenge lies ahead and we got to keep working hard and stay focused.

The SABA qualifiers was India’s newly appointed coach Scot Flemming’s first major assignment. The team fared quite well in his first assignment.

Well, since it was only a three-team affair, and only one berth was up for grabs, it was not easy. We played quite well as a unit. There is still room for improvement. Scott Flemming has been doing all the right things to lift our game and we are getting to learn all the time.

Talking of the 27th FIBA Asian basketball championships, India’s performance in the last edition was pretty disappointing as we finished 14th among 16 teams. How do you asses our chances this time around?

I think we are improving as a side, all the team. We are placed in Group D alongside Kazakhstan, who are ranked above us (47th) and Bahrain, who are ranked below us (75th), with one more team joining us from the SEABA qualifiers. We believe we have the team to progress to the second round. If we can make it to the quarterfinals, it will be a big boost for us.

Who do you think are going to be the strong contenders for 27th FIBA Asian basketball championships?

China is obviously a strong team and are the defending champions – they have been dominating the Asian championship for a long time now. Iran is another robust opponent and so are the likes of Lebanon, Jordan, Japan and Korea.

You became the senior men’s team captain at the age of 18 – something that doesn’t happen always with a cager. Your thoughts?

I feel very honoured to become the senior men’s team captain at such an early age. It was really a special moment for me and my family.

Were you worried about handling the senior players in the side when you took up captaincy at the age of 18?

There is pressure when you are the captain of the national team. I was just 18 when I was named the captain and was bit worried about the senior players. But they have been very co-operative and made things comfortable for me. They have supported my decisions and given me a lot of love as a younger brother.

When did you make your first international debut?

At the junior level, I made my debut in the 2006 FIBA Asian basketball championship held in China, while I made my senior international debut at the 2007 Asian Basketball invitation tournament ( Penang Chief Minister’s Cup) held in Malaysia.

Throw some light on your major achievements as national captain.

I led the national side to a gold medal triumph in the 1st Asian Beach Games held in Bali, Indonesia in 2008. I was the flag bearer for India at the 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China. I was also the Most Valuable Player at “Basketball without Borders” in 2008. It was the biggest achievement at the international level.

I also captained the Indian men’s cagers in the 2010 Asian games at Guangzhou – it was after a long gap of 28 years that the Indian basketball team had participated in an Asian Games. The Asian Games were a great experience for me. We showed great improvement as a team. We defeated Afghanistan in their first game of the tournament, a pre-qualifier that allowed us to enter the main group stage of the competition. The team also celebrated the Indian basketball team’s first-ever win at the Asiad. We also won a silver medal in 11th South Asian games in Dhaka in 2010 under my captaincy.

When did you join Railways? You won three national titles for them – so it must have been a very fruitful journey?

I joined the Indian Railways as T.E. in Western Railways in April 2008. I was a member of the Railways team which won the national title on three consecutive occasions.

You left Railways and moved to ONGC. Any particular reason for that?

There was no particular reason for me to leave Railways and join ONGC. It was the big opportunity for me. ONGC is also one of the best professional teams in India.

Indian basketball team is ranked 58th. What do you think is needed to bridge the gap and come close to top teams like US, Spain, Argentina, etc?

We have to keep working hard. We should aim to break into the top-8 in the Asia and put up a good challenge against the top Asian teams.