BENGALURU:
Amjyot Singh
is set to miss India's 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers against
Lebanon
and
Syria
later this month due to his
NBA
G-League commitments.
The 6ft 8in forward, who is currently playing for Oklahoma City Blue, has matches against Grand Rapids Drive (Nov 21), Erie Bayhawks (Nov 24) and Agua Caliente Clippers (Nov 25), which effectively rules him out of India's games in November.
The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced a 12-member squad which will compete in the opening window of the first round of the qualifiers with an away game against Lebanon in Zouk Mikael on November 23, followed by a home fixture against Syria on November 26 at the
Sree Kanteerava Stadium
here.
Amritpal Singh, who is signed with Sydney Kings in Australia's National Basketball League, played an away game in Adelaide on Saturday and efforts are on to have his visa processed by Monday, sources said.
Featuring alongside the 6ft 11in centre in the Indian squad is former
Dallas Mavericks
pick and Texas Legends player Satnam Singh Bhamara, Long Island Nets' (G-League) try-out Palpreet Singh Brar and a bunch of experienced players. Former India captain and shooting guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi has been ruled out due to an injury.
"The team is good, but their fitness is not up to the mark because they haven't been playing in a league," coach Zoran Visic said. "Lebanon has a strong league and their players are in good shape. We have to be smart when we play them. Having a league here in India is important."
India are clubbed along with Lebanon, Syria and Jordan in Group C and the top three teams - after a series of home-and-away games until July next year - will advance to the next round. BFI president K Govindraj announced a cash award of Rs 5 lakh for every win the Indian team registers in the qualifiers.
With the team deciding to hand the captainship on a rotational basis, Tamil Nadu point guard Akilan Pari will lead India for the Lebanon game.
Squad: Amritpal Singh, Aravind Annadurai, Satnam Singh Bhamara, Arshpreet Singh Bhullar, Akilan Pari, Prasanna Venkatesh, Rikin Pethani, Ambathi P Reddy, Palpreet Singh Brar, Jagdeep Singh Bains, Arvind Arumugam, Gurvinder Singh Gill. Coach: Zoran Visic. Assistant coach: Sambhaji Kadam.
Manager: V Ragothaman.
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