Indian Men's Squad for next Asia Cup Qlfs Window Announced

As per reports in the mainstream media, the Indian men's squad for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Window 3, has been announced. The Qualifiers will be held later this month at the Khalifa Sports City in Manama, Bahrain.

indian men's squad Roster Details

• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (captain) - Guard/Forward

• Muin Bek Hafeez - Guard

• Aravind Annadurai - PF/C

• Jagdeep Singh - SF/PF

• Amjyot Singh Gill - PF

• Amaan Sandhu - C

• Prashant Singh Rawat - PF

• Joginder Singh - PG

• Rajeev Kumar - SG

• Vivek Vinubhai Goti - C

• Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon - PG

• B M Manoj

• Veselin Matic - Head Coach

Indian Men's Squad for FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers Third Window. Image credits: Basketball Federation of India Instagram.

impact players return

While seasoned campaigners Vishesh Bhriguvanshi & Amjyot Singh are continuing in the squad from the second window, the third window will see the return of impact players Joginder Singh and Aravind Annadurai. Both had been crucial in India's solitary win over Iraq in the first window, and had missed the second window due to COVID protocol & injury concerns, respectively.

New names in this window include Amaan Sandhu (a 6ft 11' NBA Academy prospect out of Punjab, who has perhaps come in as a replacement for Princepal Singh, who is preparing for his NBA G League debut later this month), the hot shooting Rajeev Kumar, Indian Navy centre Vivek Goti, and BM Manoj.

India Games Schedule

India will be facing Iraq on 20th Feb 6:30 pm IST, followed by Lebanon on 22nd Feb 7:30 pm IST. The live streaming/broadcast details are still awaited.

In preparation for these games, the team will be arriving at Bahrain early, for an "exposure trip" between 10th-16th February.

What's at stake?

This is a high stakes, potential win-or-go home situation for India, which needs to win at least one of the two games to stay in contention for qualifying for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup. Considering that Lebanon is undefeated in the group, India will be hopeful of repeating its first window performance against Iraq, when it won 94-75. Failure to win a single game could see India crashing out of qualifying for the FIBA Asia continental event for arguably the first time in its history, dating back to its first appearance in 1965.

***

If you’ve come this far…

Appeal to readers from Ekalavyas: Ekalavyas is India’s first and only basketball media company. We are not foreign-funded, nor investor backed. Your support and encouragement have got us this far. We now need your financial assistance to ensure we can keep providing you timely, accurate and important information. Please contribute via https://www.instamojo.com/@ekalavyas​ 🙏🏾. We are accepting contributions as low as Rs. 9/- (excluding a small processing fee charged by the payment gateway provider). Thank you for playing a part in keeping media independent and objective!