Our Coach has Confidence in Younger Players: Muin Bek

24-year-old Point Guard Muin Bek Hafeez, along with other young talents, has been a find for India through the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

India may have been outclassed by Lebanon, but the Third Window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers was not without positives.

Read: India is improving every day - Lebanon Coach Joe Moujaes

Having secured a place in the Final Qualifying Tournament later in June-July, Coach Veselin Matic had the luxury of starting the game against Lebanon with younger players.

This aspect was highlighted by the promising Muin during the post-game press conference.

WATCH: Muin Bek Stars for India in the first game against Iraq

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLjNr5KDu2W/

"As a team, we are getting better each and every day. Today we had a young lineup, so this game was an experience for us to each the higher level."

Muin stressed that the Indian team was still very much a work in progress and the future was bright. "We can't trust [rely] on old [senior players] for a long time. We have to set [put in place] a core team for the long term. Our coach has confidence in the younger players. So we'll have a good team in the future. This is a step by step process for us [to get to] a higher level."

Coach Matic, who was also part of the press conference noted how Muin himself could very well fall in the category of 'youngster'

"I'm laughing now because Muin said we are trust[ing] more in younger players. But one year ago he was this young player...only one in the team. Then we have a couple of [new] players who have started to [make an impact]."

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