Best foot forward

KOCHI: Mohammed Shiraz, a young basketball player from Alappuzha, is enjoying a successful tenure with the Kerala Police team. The 20-year-old, who joined the squad three months ago has already helped it bag the first position in the Champions Trophy held in December in Kochi. According to Shiraz, the team had last tasted success in the tournament two years ago. 

Shiraz who is a forward started playing basketball after seeing his elder brother play the sport. Even though Shiraz had a basic knowledge of the game during middle school, he began to take it seriously after moving to St Ephrem’s HSS, a sports school based at Mannanam (Kottayam). “I joined St Ephrem’s in Class IX. Unlike my previous school, it had a lot of basketball players and it was easy for me to adjust,” said Shiraz. Aji Thomas and Prem Kumar are two coaches Shiraz credits for improving his game. 

Although he had played in many district and state-level tournaments during his time at St Ephrem’s, his big break came in 2015 when he was selected to the Indian junior basketball team for the FIBA Asia U-16 Championship. According to Shiraz, he was selected to the national junior team based on his formidable performance at various state basketball championships. He also represented the country in the FIBA U-18 Championship held in Iran, the following year. 

At present, Shiraz is focused on putting his best foot forward for the Kerala Police team. The team has recently recruited eight new players including him is in a strong position to compete in the upcoming tournaments. “We practise daily at Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium to work on our fitness,” 
he said.