India hoopsters face uphill challenge against Lebanon

BENGALURU: Time for revenge! Lebanon outplayed India in their last head-to-head World Cup Asia qualifiers in November, and the latter will be eager to dominate proceedings in their return fixture at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium here on Monday. Despite playing at home, it is not going to be easy by any stretch of imagination as India’s squad looks relatively weak.

Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi were not in the squad for the second window of qualifiers due to different reasons, and with guard Akilan Pari also out of the Lebanon match due to personal reasons, India have a herculean task ahead.

However, there is no room for negativity before the match. They need to look at positives from the Jordan match, where both Satnam Singh and Aravind Annadurai stepped up their game with a double-double each, despite losing 88-102. India played decent basketball against Jordan, but the visitors took advantage of the home team’s error on the ball, and coach Rajinder Singh has already worked on it to avoid a repeat of those mistakes on Monday.

“We played well against Jordan, but there were a few mistakes here and there like mispasses. If we had kept control over that, we could have beaten Jordan. We have analysed the mistakes and have worked on that while preparing for the Lebanon game,” Rajinder said.

With India lacking depth, they will once again count on Satnam and Annadurai to deliver. This match against Lebanon could pose as a serious challenge on the fitness front and the duo, like last time, will have to spend almost 35 minutes each on the court. Others like Yadwinder Singh, Jeevanantham Pandi and Justin Joseph also have to give it their all if India are to pick up their first win.“When I get too tired, I can ask the team for rest and change. We have good players on the bench and when they come on, they will try and give their best. We can win but need to put in good effort,” said the forward.

If India are to defeat their 54th ranked opponents, they will need to shine in all departments of the game. Lebanon come into this game confident with a comfortable win over Syria on Friday. With players like Ater Majok and Wael Arakji, India will have to be tight on these players as they can trouble the home team throughout the match.

Rajinder is aware of the threat Arakji brings to the court. “I have noticed that he is the lone player in the team who makes a major difference. He has all the skills — shooting, drive-ins. I have discussed with other coaches and have some plans for him,” added Rajinder, who will want to end his interim tenure as coach with a win against Lebanon.

ashim.sunam@newindianexpress.com