India men's national basketball team

India appeared at the international stage for the first time ever 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.[10][11]

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. 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. 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.

While the results did not go India's way one game in particular caught the attention of basketball fans worldwide. 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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

At the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship India was coached by former Sacramento Kings head coach Kenny Natt.[16] Further, for the first time ever, India had its own strength and conditioning coach. Even though the team lost most games, its performance against Lebanon, which had made it to the final four at the previous tournament, superseded expectations.

In 2012, former NBA D-League and U.S. college coach, Scott Flemming, took over the team. 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.[17] 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 the Indian team had experienced. In 2011, plans for the establishment thereof were officially agreed upon.[18][19]

Opposition: Bahrain (21 February)
Venue: Khalifa Sport City, Manama
Opposition: Iraq (24 February)
Venue: Al Shaeb Hall, Baghdad[20]

India national basketball team – 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 1 Sahaij Sekhon 19 – (2001-09-01)1 September 2001 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) GGDSD College PG 4 Joginder Singh 32 – (1988-05-27)27 May 1988 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Services F 7 Muin Bek Hafeez 24 – (1996-03-16)16 March 1996 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Indian Bank Chennai BC G 9 Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (C) 29 – (1991-09-13)13 September 1991 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) ONGC SG 10 Rajeev Kumar 19 – (2001-10-06)6 October 2001 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Indian Air Force F 11 Manoj Manjunatha 17 – (2003-04-30)30 April 2003 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) C 15 Jagdeep Singh 35 – (1986-01-10)10 January 1986 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Punjab Police PF 18 Aravind Annadurai 27 – (1993-07-05)5 July 1993 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Karnataka F 22 Amjyot Gill 29 – (1992-01-27)27 January 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Punjab Police F 23 Amaan Sandhu 18 – (2002-12-08)8 December 2002 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Punjab C 77 Vivek Goti 26 – (1994-07-05)5 July 1994 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Gujarat PF 78 Prashant Singh Rawat 20 – (2000-08-15)15 August 2000 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Uttarakhand	Head coach Veselin Matić Assistant coach(es) Pradeep Tomar Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on February 21, 2021

2015–present: Roox[24]

• India v Japan - Group B - Game Highlights - 2015 FIBA Asia Championship Youtube.com video