Interested in Basketball? Form a hassle-free team of three, learn and win lakhs: INBL CEO Parveen Batish

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India National Basketball League which is endorsed by International Basketball Federation (FIBA), is making all the right noise by giving basketball fans in the cricket-crazy nation an opportunity to showcase their skills, enhance their skills and even win cash awards in excess of Rs 20 lakh.

In an exclusive interview with MyKhel.com, INBL CEO Parveen Batish has very well made that competing with cricket leagues like the IPL 'does not make sense', before adding that the Indian National Basketball League is moving forward with the goal to turn a kid's school dream into reality.

The unique initiative has already seen the players make India proud at international level. Notably, the quartet that was the INBL 3x3 National U18 champions were exactly the foursome that comprised the Indian National U18 team that won the historic silver medal at the FIBA U17 3x3 Asia Cup 2022. They have also qualified for the FIBA U18 3x3 World Cup 2023.

"First of all cricket is a huge outlier, it's a life form of its own.We cannot even dream of competing against cricket but what we do have, we have something going for us. For example, every school in the country has a basketball court. So everybody has been introduced to the sport of basketball at some point of his life in school - whether it's a hoop or a ball, playing or not playing. So, we have an advantage already. Our job is two-fold, one is to increase the number of people playing the sport and the way we can do that is to make it accessible for people to enter our competition.

"So this three-on-three competition is open to everyone.You don't have to be part of a club, you don't have to be part of an association, you don't have to be selected, you just need to get together with your friends and enter as a team and play. Not only can you play, you have a chance to win money. Under-18 players from last year went to represent the country in the Asia Cup and came second. Now they are going to represent the country in the world cup. That was literally from the grassroots. This is an opportunity for everyone to play," Batish said, explaining the primary objective of INBL.

"The second objective is to provide an opportunity for people to get better at the game. In any sport, the more you play, the more you play against better players, the better coaching you get, the better you will get. We want to grow the number of people playing and we want to help them improve their skill. That's what 3*3 can offer. It's a quick game and it's open to everybody. We are not going to compete with cricket but give opportunities to people to play at a fair level," he added.

The FIBA endorsed 3X3 Indian National Basketball League (INBL) 3x3 Season 2 successfully concluded its round one in Bengaluru & Chandigarh. Building on the tremendous success of the first round, INBL 3x3 Season 2 now moves to Pune at the Deccan Gymkhana & to Noida at the Jaypee Stadium for the second round of the league stages, from 23rd to 25th June.

INBL 3x3 saw nearly 300 teams participated in the first round in Bengaluru & Chandigarh witnessing high-intensity battles that showcased exceptional skill and determination from all teams and the potential that Indian Basketball has.