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Murmurs of a pro league for basketball fill cagers in Ludhiana for nationals with hope
immense success of IPL has given way to leagues in other sports & Basketball Federation of India is keen to join the list
Indian national basketball team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi on Thursday led the Delhi team to a victory over Indian Railways during the ongoing 73rd Senior National Basketball Championship.
Bhriguvanshi, has delivered one stellar performance after the other not just at the ongoing meet, but on other stages big and small. And yet, he is not yet a household name like some of the sporting stars, say cricketers and hockey players.
The 32-year-old and numerous other young cagers, however, hope that growing murmurs for a professional basketball league will change that.
The immense success of the Indian Premier League has given way to similar league tournaments for sports across the spectrum. That, added with the enthusiasm of Aadhav Arjuna, who was elected as the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) president in July this year, fills players with the hope that a major change in the landscape is just around the corner.
Veteran India basketball player and Arjun-awardee Ajmer Singh Chopra hopes that the change comes about sooner than later.
“I hope the new association will move forward in this direction in the coming years,” Chopra, who represented India in the World Championships and the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, said when asked about the buzz surrounding the pro league.
Notably, this is not the first time that discussion about a commercial basketball league is being had in India.
Veteran Ajmer Singh said that the BFI in 2007 under former chief executive officer Harish Sharma made efforts to bring in a league of international standards. Sharma, who passed away in 2012, is remembered as a visionary who helped strengthen BFI’s ties with international bodies and secured key sponsors for the sport.
If a commercial league was to materialise, it would provide much more exposure and means of earning a livelihood to local talent, who for now rely on government jobs to sustain their careers.
“Hopefully, in a few months, there will be a professional Basketball League in India,” Brighuvanshi, who received the Arjuna Award in 2020, said while thinking ahead for his next game.
