INBL 3×3 League: With an aim to strengthen and popularise Basketball in India, the Indian National Basketball League is making all the right noise. The second edition of the INBL 3X3 is currently underway. The league hopes to provide a platform for budding basketball talents across the country and realize their potential. On the sidelines of the Noida leg of the league, Parveen Batish, CEO of the INBL spoke to InsideSport.
In an exclusive interview, he touched upon the ecosystem for the sport in the country, the league’s mission and the dream of qualifying for the Olympics.
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The Olympic Dream
According to Batish, INBL’s most ambitious goal is to send a formidable Indian basketball team to the Olympics. India is set to participate in the Asian leg of the FIBA 2024 Paris Olympics pre-qualifying tournament set to take place in August 12-20.
“Olympic qualification is a project that would take us a few years to achieve. We are trying to develop the skill levels of the players as it would give us an opportunity at an international stage. I am not sure if we would qualify for the Paris Olympics. If that happens it would be fantastic. But I think we need to target the next Olympics. In four years time, I think that would be achievable,” said Batish.
The format of INBL 3×3 Season 2
3×3 Basketball features only three players in each team. Aprt from the three players, only one substitute is allowed on the bench. Unlike traditional Basketball, it is played on a half-court that has just a single hoop. The size of the ball is also slightly smaller in size.
This year, the INBL 3×3 league has expanded to four cities – Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Noida and Pune for men and women. The league began on June 16. After the first two legs at Chandigarh and Bengaluru, the Noida leg is currently on.
On the league’s format, Parveen Batish said, “The format is, it is open to everyone. You don’t have to belong to a club or an association. Any three or four people can form a team and play.”
“If you just play Basketball locally in a park, you can put a team in. You also have to register on the FIBA system. You can then start to earn points based on the performance,” added Batish.
Due to the open format, each city has attracted more than 100 teams. All the teams are divided into groups depending on the number in each city. After the round-robin stages, the teams will progress to the knockouts.
“The teams finishing in the top three positions in each leg will earn prize money. They also get invited to the Nationals finals which will happen in Bengaluru next weekend. In the finals 12 teams each in the Men and Women’s categories will be in action,” he said.
The winners of the Men’s competition this year will get another opportunity. They will be representing the country in an international competiton that is scheduled to be held in Shanghai.
Objectives of the league
“We have two main objectives. One is to give people the opportunity to play. Hence we want to grow that community of people playing basketball. The second objective is to improve the talent level of the people playing the sport,” said Batish.
“What we are planning to do in the future is to help coach the coaches at 3×3 and 5×5 so that we can develop the players in the future,” he added.
He also revealed that there is a plan to take the sport to the kids. “We have plans to encourage 5-10 year olds to come and play the sport. Encouraging them to understand the sport from the nutritional and well-being point of view and helping them start at an early age. That will happen in the future.”
Ranking Points
As per the FIBA Rankings, a country has a chance to move up the rankings if it hosts basketball tournaments regularly. India’s overall FIBA rankings in Men’s 3×3 is 63 at the moment and 71 in the Women’s 3×3. Speaking about it, Batish added, “We move up the rankings every time we run a competition. Through all of our leagues and competitions, we are earning points.”
“However bigger the league, the more points we earn and the higher up the rankings we go. So reaching the top would not happen overnight but we are on a journey and we would continue to be on that,” he opined.
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