India set to taste 3x3 flavour

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has set up India's basketball fraternity with an alley-oop after giving a final nod to the country's plans to introduce the sport's 3x3 format to its population.

In basketball, an alley-oop is an offensive play in which a player throws the ball near the basket towards a waiting teammate who jumps, catches and dunks the ball down the hoop in midair.

FIBA has executed the initial part of the move - the ball-throwing. India has caught the ball and taken the jump, and presently lies suspended in midair, waiting to dunk the ball down the hoop to score home. Waiting, because there remains a lot of work yet to be done before 3x3 basketball announces itself to a country that has not been much of a basketball-crazy nation.

3x3 basketball is a discipline of basketball that uses three players and one substitute from each team to engage in play for a single period of 10 minutes on half court. It has been around since the late 1980s and today is the largest urban team sport of the world. The discipline was included in the Olympics last year and is set to make its debut at the 2020 Olympic Games.

India's connections with 3x3 basketball come through Rohit Bakshi, League Commissioner for the 3x3 Pro Basketball League India Sub-continent. Bakshi, who has himself played in Japan's 3x3 league, is the owner of the company (YKBK Enterprises) that has been granted the exclusive rights to conduct the competition in India by FIBA 3x3.

"I started playing 3x3 in 2016," Bakshi reveals. "That year we won the championship in Japan. We went to the World Tour, reached the World Tour final and became number second.

"That was a huge success as an Indian origin player and because of this FIBA has granted us these exclusive rights," explains Bakshi, one of the four Indian origin players who represented Japan's Hamamatsu Team at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour in 2016.

With the arrival of a FIBA-approved 3x3 basketball league in India, Bakshi believes that the country can truly reach an impressive level in the discipline at the 2020 Olympics and also holds the opinion that India will have a crucial edge at that stage.

"In India we have a first-hand advantage," Bakshi points out. "Many countries - even the US - are not yet ready for 3x3. Their entire focus is on 5x5.

"FIBA initially started this process for developing countries like India to have international exposure so that they will be able to win medals in basketball. And because we are starting a league this year, I believe we have a huge advantage as compared to other countries," he explained.

The "international exposure" that Rohit refers to is the promotion of the league's top teams for representing India's 3x3 fraternity in FIBA World Tours based on the points they gather at the end of the competition.

Besides League Commissioner Bakshi, there are some other notable players who look equally excited for the competition to begin. This includes Bakshi's Hamamatsu teammates Inderbir Gill and Amjyot Singh.

"Basketball in India has grown a lot in the last four years in India," says Gill, "and to be part of it is really exciting."

"With 3x3 India has a really good chance for winning the medal in the Olympics," he adds.

Indian basketball player Amjyot Singh also believes that the competition will go a long way in promoting young talent for basketball in India.

The league will also see the likes of Palpreet Singh Brar, Jagdeep Singh and Gurvinder Singh compete in the fast-paced format. The three players have played 5x5 in the UBA Pro Basketball League and for them to play in a thrilling new format looks quite promising.

"We are excited to play with and against some of the best players, with some international players too," Palpreet says. "It is going to be an enjoyable experience."

"This is going to be a fun league," Jagdeep puts in. "The crowd is going to love it."

The league begins in June, and with all the work that is being done in midair, it will all come down to how it is received in India and how it will help the sport to grow in the country. That indeed would be the final dunk down the hoop.