The fact that a domestic tournament with only Indian stars could stir up such a frenzy means the sports can sell itself if marketed smartly. A professional league, comprising six to eight city-based teams, is expected to be inaugurated in India in the next six months, but without participation of the private sector, the game will take longer to shed its formal, annual sports-day image.

With the game moving indoors – with a 24-second shot clock, floodlights, and musical accompaniments – basketball has attracted sizeable crowds India. Though it’s TV coverage takes a beating as 4 stiffly positioned cameras try to do what 24 cameras capture in an NBA game, giving the impression of the Indian game being a slow motion version. At the recent nationals (Dec 31- Jan 7), spectators were on the edge of their seats, and sometimes on their feet, as matches turned exhilarating.

National coach Alexander Bucan believes India’s international results will need to improve if it aims at furthering its reach wider. Currently India stands 16th in Asia, though in a first of big results, the Indian colts picked up a gold at a 3-on-3 eight team event in Indonesia.

S Robinson has played in leagues in Iran, and Talwinderjit Singh is trying his luck in California, but the Serbian coach contends that it’ll be important for at least one Indian to hit the big league. “Because of Yao Ming, we think the Chinese are big. Ditto for Russians – a few on the NBA draft list and we believe they be a tall race. But that’s not true. It’s simple, you have a billion and there’s a big chance of getting tall people with the right constitution if we get our scouting act together,” he says.

By Shivani Naik