CHENNAI: After a dismal show away from home against Saudi Arabia on Friday, where they lost 51-75, Palpreet Singh Brar and Co will look to make amends, in their reverse fixture in Group D of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Round 1 here on Sunday.
India are grouped along with Saudi Arabia, World Cup hosts Qatar and Lebanon in Group D. The qualifiers, which began last week, will continue till March in 2027. India, being a part of the Asia and Oceania Qualifiers, are one of 16 teams put into four teams of four groups each.
There, India will face all the three teams, and the top three teams from the group will qualify for the second round. Matches in these groups will be played in three windows — November 2025, February, March and July 2026. In the second round, teams from Group B (Japan, Chinese Taipei, China and Korea) may be added to make a seven team group. Second round matches will be played in August and November 2026 and February 2027.
Indian team head coach from the United States of America Scott Flemming felt that qualifying over this two-year period will be a "long-shot." "I would never say we can't do it, But it is going to be a challenge," he said on the sidelines during the pre-match press conference at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
In their loss to Sunday's opponents at Jeddah, India, from the outside, seemed to have improved in collecting rebounds. However, their success rate with shooting took a hit. "We couldn't throw it in the basket the other night. Open, wide open shots. I think if we had knocked down half of those three pointers, we'd been right in the game," he added.
India recorded a field goal success rate of 31.8 per cent, much lower than their opponents (65.7 per cent). Another concern put forth by the 67-year-old is player availability. With the country yet to have its own professional basketball league, players are likely to travel abroad to play other leagues to gain match fitness. "We have five players in Mongolia playing pro ball. We have players coming and going. So, it is a little difficult when you don't have them all the time. Could we be even more fit? Absolutely, but it is hard when they are coming and going," he explained.
Power forward Amjyot Singh marked his return from shoulder injury with a seven-point game on Friday. He is expected to improve on that. "He was not doing anything for a long time. Just in the last month, he's been playing, So we had him running on the sidelines running sprints but it takes time," he added.