FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers: What’s ailing Indian basketball?

Six loses in six matches at the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. No wins since March 2025.

The Indian men’s basketball team is in a free fall, hard to ignore. As coach Rama Linga Prasad Guntupalli and point guard Arvind Muthu Krishnan took seats at the press conference after their sixth and final loss at the World Cup qualifiers, the disappointment was evident.

The two men, part of the setup since the start of their qualifying campaign in November last year, echoed similar sentiments as they summed up the challenging eight months. They lacked the required "physicality".

"We need to work on our physicality to close the game. That’s one area we need to improve,” the usually reserved Muthu said.

The physicality the coach and Muthu are referring to have often been the bane of this Indian team. They usually start well in the match and hold on till the end of the second quarter.

As soon as the teams return after the 15-minute half-time break for the third quarter, the intensity drops and the opposition runs away with the contest.

“In the third quarter, we have the same old issues. Somehow we aren’t able to contain them. We have to be physical and we have to learn it as soon as possible,” said coach Prasad.

“These teams (opponents) are very physical and off the ball they will be bumping, body checking and we have to be giving the same to them,” he added.

The physicality here means the willingness to play the rough game and impose themselves over their opponents and not essentially the height and body structure, which are two of the most important aspects in elite basketball.

“It is not about the size, it’s about maturity, how we are competing, how we are bodychecking and how we don’t give easy baskets to the opponents,” explained Prasad.

It is something which coach Ahmad El Farrran of Lebanon, who handed India their heaviest loss of the campaign just over a week ago agrees with.

“I think the Indian team is improving competition after competition. I believe they have good size for basketball and I believe they will improve if the domestic league improves,” El Farran opined.

Aside from the physicality and fizzling out in the third quarter, the Indians quite often struggled to break through the defences of their opponents and were guilty of unsuccessfully over-relying on making three-pointer baskets, as has been the case for years.

In the six matches they played in the campaign, India attempted 167 three pointers, scoring only 44 of those with a success rate of just 26.3%.

Among the teams in India’s group, Saudi Arabia made 47 off their 149 three-point attempts, Qatar scored 53 off 148, while Lebanon had an even better conversion rate, scoring 46 off 125 attempts.

Former coach Scott Fleming had previously famously defended this philosophy, citing that you can’t win against higher-ranked teams without making three-point baskets. The conversion rate, however, continues to raise eyebrows.

Besides, the over reliance on small forward Pranav Prince was a major concern for the team. The 6’6” Tamil Nadu star was by far the best player on display from India, ending with an average efficiency of 14.5.

Among the players, who featured in all six matches for India, the next best average efficiency was Sahaj Singh Sekhon’s 7.8, showcasing the gulf in quality.

The likes of the young Harsh Dagar and Muthu himself were far too inconsistent with their plays, which had an impact as India struggled for wins. Princepal Singh did leave his mark in the four matches he featured in, but it wasn’t enough to pull off anything major.

The fact that coach Fleming resigned from his position as a head coach in the middle of the campaign earlier this year, didn’t help either.

Fleming had taken over as the head coach from Serbian Veselin Matic in 2024 before opting to take an exit in February, putting coach Prasad, who was his assistant in the hot seat.

“It was a big void to fill,” said Prasad. “Scott had 40 years of experience across the world.”

“It was easy for me to take over because all these years, I’ve been working with him and the players in the same system.

“I made a few changes, but the players are co-operative. I always believe in a player-led system instead of me hand holding every time & I’m grateful for the support I received from them,” he added.

The biggest issue, however, has been the lack of exposure, as Prasad batted for more matches for his wards against higher quality opponents to level up.

The FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers 2027 painted a sorry picture for India and the road ahead is steep. Will Indian basketball find light at the end of the tunnel? Only time will tell.