India men's national basketball team

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3x3 men's team


Template:Infobox national basketball team The India men's national basketball team represents India in international basketball. It is governed by the Basketball Federation of India.[1]

A 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia,[2] India has one of Asia's longest basketball traditions. Throughout its history, Team India qualified for the FIBA Asia Championship 26 times and is placed in the top five in appearances in this tournament. Further, India's basketball team won four gold medals and one silver medal at the South Asian Games and is the most successful team in the South Asian region. India have also won the SABA Championship six times.[3] Team India celebrated its victory at the 2014 Lusofonia Games after they finished the tournament with a 4–0 record as they beat 11–time African Champions Angola in the final.[4]

Its most famous moment came at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup with the win against home favorites and most successful Asian team China by seven points.[1][5] This win has been labelled as the biggest basketball win in the nation's history.[6]

History

India appeared at the international stage for the first time ever at the Asian Games in the 1951 edition and the Asian Championships at the 1965 Asian Basketball Championship where it started out as moderately competitive. India became a regular at the event and had their most successful tournament in 1975 when the team even reached the final four.[7][8]

Plagued by a lack of popularity and support for basketball at home, at times, India faded into oblivion and only had a handful of successful performances.[9] Its most noteworthy tournament appearance was at the 1980 Summer Olympics when the team got its chance to represent Asia due to the cancellations of some teams who took part in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.[10] A few of the world's top basketball powers at that time (such as the United States and Canada) withdrew from the tournament. India finished 12th out of 12 in the Olympics after getting knocked out in the preliminary round by losing all three of their matches and then losing all five of their matches in the Classification round.[11]

While the results did not go India's way one game in particular caught the attention of everyone.[12][13] India played against the Australian Team, one of the world's top basketball teams. India, which was made up solely of voluntary basketball players competed against the elite team of Australia for almost the whole game until it finally ceded to the Boomers 75–93 after leading at halftime 41–37.[14]

Many Indian players also made headlines while in the Soviet Union as well. Ajmer Singh gained worldwide attention as he was amongst the top 10 shooters there and became the 10th best pivot player in the tournament there.[15] The late 90s saw the emergence of Sozhasingarayer Robinson, the first Indian basketball player who gained considerable international attention. Robinson led India to a surprising victory over South Korea, one of Asia's top teams.[16] In 2005, however, Robinson complained that the structure and support for basketball in India was still mediocre and government officials did not do enough to support the sport. As a protest, he retired from the national team.[17]

At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship India was coached by former Sacramento Kings head coach Kenny Natt.[18] In 2012, former NBA D-League and U.S. college coach, Scott Flemming, took over the team.[19] Under his supervision, the team won the South Asia Championship in 2014. India had two wins and finished 3 places higher (11th) in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship than in 2011.[20] In 2014, the Young Cagers (as team India is often nicknamed) won the Lusofonia games with wins over Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Angola in the gold medal game. This was Team India's first title ever in a non-Asian competition. In the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup India pulled off the biggest win in their 80-year history by defeating China on their home court 65–58. The establishment of a professional league was a major step in continuing this recent success.[21][22] India continued their dominance in South Asia by winning further South Asian Championships in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.[23][24][25]

Performance record

Olympics

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
1980 Template:Flagicon Moscow, Soviet Union 12th 7 0 7 458 797 −339
Total 1/21 7 0 7 458 797 −339

Commonwealth Games

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
2006 Template:Flagicon Melbourne, Australia 8th 5 0 5 304 474 −170
2018 Template:Flagicon Gold Coast, Australia 8th 3 0 3 222 292 −70
Total 2/2 8 0 8 526 766 −240

Asian Games

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
1951 Template:Flagicon New Delhi, India 4th 4 1 3 184 266 −82
1970 Template:Flagicon Bangkok, Thailand 6th 8 2 6 478 560 −82
1982 Template:Flagicon New Delhi, India 8th 9 2 7 739 651 +88
2006 Template:Flagicon Doha, Qatar 17th 2 0 2 0 40 −40
2010 Template:Flagicon Guangzhou, China 11th 6 1 5 375 507 −132
2014 Template:Flagicon Incheon, South Korea 9th 5 2 3 353 344 +9
Total 6/19 34 8 26 2129 2368 −239
  • 1970: JPN - IND (No Data)
  • 1982: DPRK - IND (No Data)
  • 2006: Withdraw

Asia Cup

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Source:[30]

Year Rank Played Won Lost PF PA PD
Template:Flagicon 1960 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1963
Template:Flagicon 1965 7th 7 4 3 491 542 −51
Template:Flagicon 1967 6th 9 5 4 709 797 −88
Template:Flagicon 1969 5th 8 4 4 748 720 +28
Template:Flagicon 1971 6th 8 3 5 563 632 −69
Template:Flagicon 1973 6th 10 3 7 744 902 −158
Template:Flagicon 1975 4th 8 5 3 754 728 +26
Template:Flagicon 1977 7th 9 7 2 957 776 +181
Template:Flagicon 1979 5th 7 3 4 539 604 −65
Template:Flagicon 1981 5th 7 3 4 521 511 +10
Template:Flagicon 1983 6th 5 2 3 298 310 −12
Template:Flagicon 1985 10th 6 3 3 585 459 +126
Template:Flagicon 1987 6th 7 2 5 518 608 −90
Template:Flagicon 1989 6th 6 2 4 472 520 −48
Template:Flagicon 1991 13th 7 2 5 575 596 −21
Template:Flagicon 1993 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1995 13th 8 4 4 537 558 −21
Template:Flagicon 1997 11th 6 3 3 433 409 +24
Template:Flagicon 1999 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 2001 8th 6 1 5 406 508 −102
Template:Flagicon 2003 8th 7 2 5 551 678 −127
Template:Flagicon 2005 12th 7 3 4 545 578 −33
Template:Flagicon 2007 15th 7 2 5 468 627 −159
Template:Flagicon 2009 13th 5 2 3 371 415 −44
Template:Flagicon 2011 14th 5 1 4 283 310 −27
Template:Flagicon 2013 11th 8 2 6 532 641 −109
Template:Flagicon 2015 8th 9 3 6 669 789 −120
Template:Flagicon 2017 14th 3 0 3 186 249 −63
Template:Flagicon 2022 16th 3 0 3 169 305 −136
Template:Flagicon 2025 15th 3 0 3 212 275 −63
Total 27/31 181 71 110 13,836 15,047 −1,211

Asia Challenge

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
2004 Template:Flagicon Taipei, Taiwan 6th 5 3 2 389 405 −16
2008 Template:Flagicon Kuwait City, Kuwait 5th 4 0 4 217 291 −74
2012 Template:Flagicon Tokyo, Japan 9th 4 0 4 294 370 −76
2014 Template:Flagicon Wuhan, China 7th 7 3 4 473 425 +48
2016 Template:Flagicon Tehran, Iran 7th 8 4 4 585 670 −85
Total 5/6 28 10 18 1958 2161 −203

SABA Championship

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
2002 Template:Flagicon Guwahati, India 1st Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
2014 Template:Flagicon Kathmandu, Nepal 1st 4 4 0 372 142 +230
2015 Template:Flagicon Bengaluru, India 1st 5 5 0 552 220 +332
2016 Template:Flagicon Bengaluru, India 1st 3 3 0 272 128 +144
2017 Template:Flagicon Male, Maldives 1st 4 4 0 404 218 +186
2021 Template:Flagicon Dhaka, Bangladesh 1st 3 3 0 308 120 +188
Total 6/8 19 19 0 1908 828 +1080

South Asian Games

Template:Main Source:[31]

Year Host Position P W L PF PA PD
1987 Template:Flagicon Kolkata, India 1st Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
1991 Template:Flagicon Colombo, Sri Lanka 1st Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
1995 Template:Flagicon Chennai, India 1st Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
2010 Template:Flagicon Dhaka, Bangladesh 2nd Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
2019 Template:Flagicon Kathmandu, Nepal 1st 4 4 0 471 233 +238

Lusofonia Games

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Year Host Position M W L PF PA PD
2014 Template:Flagicon Goa, India 1st 4 4 0 304 245 +59
Total 1/3 4 4 0 304 245 +59

William Jones Cup

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Year Host Rank P W L PF PA PD
2016 Template:Flagicon New Taipei, Taiwan 9th 8 1 7 536 638 −102
2017 Template:Flagicon Taipei, Taiwan 10th 9 0 9 628 885 −257
Total 2/44 17 1 16 1164 1523 −359

Honours

Intercontinental

Continental

Coaching history

Note: The following list may not be complete Template:Columns-list

Results and fixtures

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2024

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2025

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2026

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Team

2025 roster

Roster for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.[34]

Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer

Past rosters

1980 Olympic Games: finished 12th among 12 teams[35][36]

Baldev Singh, Ajmer Singh, Parvez Diniar, Dilip Gurumurthy, Harbhajan Singh, Jorawar Singh, Amarnath Nagarajan, Pramdiph Singh, Paramjit Singh, Radhey Shyam, Hanuman Singh, Tarlok Singh Sandhu (Coach:Makolath Rajan)

2001 Asian Championship: finished 8th among 14 teams[37]

Vinay Kumaryadan, J.Murli, B.J. Jadeja, Mohit Bhandari, S.Sridhar, Parmindar Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Austin Almeida, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Suresh Ranot, M.S. Sabeer Ahamed, Des Raj (Coach: Keshav Kumar Chansoria)

2003 Asian Championship: finished 8th among 16 teams[38]

Sambhaji Kadam, Gagnesh Kumar, Mihir Pandey, S. Gopinath, S.Sridhar, Parmindar Singh, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Riyaz Uddin, Snehpal Singh, Des Raj

2005 Asian Championship: finished 12th among 16 teams[39]

Sambhaji Kadam, Shiv Kumar, Mihir Pandey, Anoop Mukkanniyil, Yadwinder Singh, Rajanna Sanjay Raj, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Sozhasingarayer Robinson, Riyaz Uddin, Talwinderjit Singh, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Jay Prakash Singh)

2007 Asian Championship: finished 15th among 16 teams[40]

Sambhaji Kadam, Shiv Kumar, Ravikumar Krishnasamy, Anoop Mukkanniyil, Roshan Thankachan Padavetiyil, Rajanna Sanjay Raj, Muraleekrishna Ravindran, Trideep Rai, Dilawar Singh, Riyaz Uddin, Lokesh Yodav, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan)

2009 Asian Championship: finished 13th among 16 teams[41]

Sambhaji Kadam, Talwinderjit Singh, Hareesh Koroth, Harpalsinh Vaghela, Sunil Kumar Rathee, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Prakash Mishra, Vineeth Revi Mathew, Abhilek Paul, Jayram Jat, Dinesh Comibatore, Jagdeep Singh (Coach: Aleksandar Bucan)

2011 Asian Championship: finished 14th among 16 teams[42] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer Template:Hidden end 2013 Asian Championship: finished 11th among 15 teams[43] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer Template:Hidden end 2014 Asian Games: finished 12th among 16 teams[44] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer

Template:Hidden end 2015 FIBA Asia Championship: finished 8th among 16 qualified teams in Asia [45] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer

Template:Hidden end 2017 FIBA Asia Cup[46] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA roster footer Template:Hidden end

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification[47] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player

Template:FIBA roster footer Template:Hidden end

2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualification[48] Template:Hidden begin Template:FIBA roster header

Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player Template:FIBA player

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See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 [1] Template:Webarchive FIBA.com – National Federations & Leagues
  2. ↑ Jai Prakash, "Indian basketball team to feature in Dubai tournament" Template:Webarchive, Yahoo Cricket India, 3 June 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Pakistan basketball team named for 11th South Asian Games Template:Webarchive, gz2010.cn, accessed 25 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Lusofonia Games '14: Indian men win historic gold; Women settle for bronze – Ekalavyas | Ekalavyas. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  5. ↑ FIBA LiveStats. www.fibalivestats.com. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  6. ↑ 5th FIBA Asia Cup: India beats China for biggest basketball win in the nation's history – Ekalavyas | Ekalavyas. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  7. ↑ 1975 Asian Championship for men. FIBA. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  8. ↑ Howard tour;NBA archived posts. NBA.com. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Indian basketball team: A topsy-turvy trail. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  10. ↑ The first and last time India played basketball at the Olympics(18 December 2022). Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  11. ↑ Basketball at 1980 Olympics: India's road to qualification, roster, results, top performers and more(23 July 2021). Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  12. ↑ How did India play at the 1980 Summer Olympics?.
  13. ↑ Basketball at 1980 Olympics: India's road to qualification, roster, results, top performers and more.
  14. ↑ [2] Template:Webarchive FIBA: 1980 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men, archives.fiba.com, accessed 17 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Indian basketball team at the 1980 Olympics. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ↑ http://www.taiwanhoops.com/2004/11/stankovic-cup-day-4-robinsons-36-leads.html Template:Webarchive Taiwan Hoops – Stankovic Cup Day 4 – Robinson's 36 leads India upset Korea, 81–76, taiwanhoops.com, written 24 November 2004, accessed 13 October 2011.
  17. ↑ http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/04/stories/2007120411292200.htm Template:Webarchive The Hindu – Sport / Basketball : Robinson not to play for India, TN, Hindu.com, written 4 December 2007, accessed 15 October 2011.
  18. ↑ I'm here to create a superstar, says India's NBA coach Kenny Natt. The Times of India(14 June 2011). Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Scott Flemming named India's basketball coach.
  20. ↑ 26th FIBA Asia Championship : Schedule & Results. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  21. ↑ Indian National Basketball League from January 4. The Hindu(18 November 2021). Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  22. ↑ BFI launch INBL (Indian National Basketball League), aim to take sport to higher standards across all formats(19 November 2021). Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  23. ↑ India Men's Basketball Team Win SABA Championship For Sixth Time(19 November 2021). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  24. ↑ Indian men's team wins South Asian Basketball Association C'ships for sixth time(19 November 2021). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  25. ↑ India crowned SABA Championship basketball winners for the sixth time. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  26. ↑ Do we need one more stadium?, Kushala, S.. The Times of India(May 22, 2002). Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  27. ↑ Anoop MUKKANNIYI. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  28. ↑ Trideep Rai. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  29. ↑ Riyaz UDDIN. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  30. ↑ http://www.todor66.com/basketball/Asia/Zones.html
  31. ↑ South Asian Games 2019: India wins gold in all formats and categories of basketball event.
  32. ↑ India win gold in basketball at Lusofonia Games. The Times of India(28 January 2014). Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  33. ↑ Afghan Sports Federation – 2010 South Asian Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh; BREAKING NEWS: Afghanistan National Basketball Team Wins Gold. AfghanSportsFederation.org. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  34. ↑ Team roster: India. fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  35. ↑ Former Indian basketball coach Rajan passes away(10 October 2017).
  36. ↑ India Basketball at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  37. ↑ India 2001 Team.
  38. ↑ India 2003 Squad.
  39. ↑ 2005 India Roster.
  40. ↑ India 2007 Roster.
  41. ↑ India 2009 Roster.
  42. ↑ India Roster 2011.
  43. ↑ India 2013 Roster.
  44. ↑ India 2014 Roster.
  45. ↑ India 2015 Roster.
  46. ↑ India at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 – FIBA.basketball. FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  47. ↑ India 2017 Roster.
  48. ↑ India 2022 Roster.

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