Spectator role pains India’s top player

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Vishesh Bhriguvanshi is a devastated man. For the 20-year-old sensation, who ruled Indian basketball in the last three senior national championships, watching the latest edition from the sidelines has been a painful experience.

Vishesh has been reduced to a spectator after the Basketball Federation of India barred the youngster from turning out for Uttarakhand for not producing the NOC from his previous employers, Western Railways.

The sharp shooter, who played an instrumental role in Railways’ three-in-a-row title triumph, has been the most sought after player among the institutional teams.

With a lucrative salary package he was roped in by Dehradun-based Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in April, but Railways are yet to release his NOC.

“They are intentionally delaying it to stop me from playing for Uttarakhand at the nationals,” said the Varanasi-born, who has been a key member of the national team since 2008.

Hailing from an academic family in India’s religious capital, Vishesh followed in the footsteps of his brother Vibhor Bhriguvanshi, who is currently the head coach of Uttar Pradesh women’s team.

Though Vibhor took Vishesh to basketball, it’s Uttarakhand’s Trideep Rai who has been mentoring the youngster. “Trideep has been my inspiration. I fell in love with the game after seeing him play at Varanasi,” recalled Vishesh, whose dad is a professor and mother a school principal.

Vishesh’s basketball career had a head start when he was named the Most Valuable Player at NBA’s Basketball Without Borders programme in 2008. He was then given the responsibility of leading a young Indian team at the Asian Beach Games at Indonesia the same year.

Vishesh did an admirable job as India returned home with gold. Vishesh had gained a wealth of international experience even before he turned 18.

His biggest moment, Vishesh says, came at the 2009 Fiba Asian championship at Tianjin (China) where he finished among the top-10 players of the tournament. “It was such a proud moment for me when I lead the country at the Asian Games last year.

We defeated Afghanistan in the qualifier to make it to the main competition. Though we lost all the five group games, we did put up some memorable performances. Against Asian powerhouse Iran, we managed to stay neck-to-neck in the second half after trailing by a huge margin before the break. Against the Philippines and Japan, too, we were competitive,” said Vishesh.

Indian Basketball players’ long wait could well end in 2012 as the BFI finally looks set to launch a professional league. Vishesh says only a pro league can change the complexion of the sport in the country. “We don’t need to look up to cricket, take the Indian Volley League for example.

The players are so happy and highly motivated after the league brought monetary benefits to them. No doubt, basketball is a rage at school and college levels, but not many pursue the sport long term because you can’t make a living out of it. Railways’ Class 3 or 4 jobs aren’t attractive to youngsters. I think more corporate companies such as Reliance should form basketball teams. The game has a great scope for improvement in the country,” Vishesh said.