The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) gave Indian basketball a big boost on Wednesday by launching the Pro International Basketball League (INBL Pro). The league is scheduled to start on January 15 and will have six teams participating in five different locations: Punjab, Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The final rounds will be held in Abu Dhabi in March.
On January 9, players under 25 from both India and other countries will participate in the InBL auction. Additionally, two international players over 25 will serve as mentors for each team. During the basketball nationals, which will take place in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, from January 5–12, Indian players are anticipated to be heavily scouted.
INBL Pro Chairman on the league
The chairman of the INBL Pro, Rupinder Brar talked about what made them start a league around Basketball in India. He expressed his desire to create a pathway for Indian talent that has the potential to compete on the biggest stage.
"The idea of this league came because basketball is a really famous sport in the world but there is no league here. There's a Kabaddi league, a soccer league but basketball is missing and my father was a basketball coach. I was born here, we went to Australia and became successful. We have a relationship with that federation there, they told us why don't you start one in India? You have 140 crore people, you should start," said Rupinder Brar, the owner and chairman of the INBL Pro in an exclusive conversation with Sports Tak.
"We have been running the domestic league for 3 years and by playing 11000 players, we have realized that there is a lot of potential. Earlier, people wanted to play but there was no pathway. Now, we will create a pathway through our league. A person used to play in school, and after that, he will go to state and then to national. In the National, our coaches and selectors from overseas will come and select them and they will play in the league," he added.
How this league will help grow Indian talent?
The six franchises will be based in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Gujarat, Delhi, and Punjab. The Indian Panthers, a new team that will play in the New Zealand Basketball League (NZ NBL), will be formed from the best 10–12 Indian players in the InBL. Indian players will train in Auckland as part of this partnership, and they will play international matches against other professional teams for five months.
Indian-origin players like Satnam Singh and Sim Bhullar have represented the NBA, although their impact was not as great as expected. Because of this, there are not many notable success stories for prospective Indian cagers to look up to. A decision about the start of a women's InBL league will be made the following year, contingent on the men's league's commercial success and the evaluation of women's basketball skills.
