Express News Service
CHENNAI: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was spreadeagled on the wooden floor, exhausted. The sweat on his Uttarakhand jersey had already made a small pool next to him. Next to him, his teammates were congratulating each other, handshakes and fist-bumps.
The reason they were happy was because Bhriguvanshi, the Indian team captain, had inspired his team to a win after the first period of extra time against Indian Railway. Out of 101 points Uttarakhand registered, 48 was scored by Bhriguvanshi.
A good 10-15 minutes after the game, Bhriguvanshi finally managed to extricate himself from the floor and he immediately got the recognition his game deserved.
“One photo,” asked a fan who made his way from the stands. “Played,” one of his opponents patted him on the back. “Indian team captain, let’s ask for a selfie,” was the gist of a conversation between a few of the volunteers.
He obliged them. Outside the Indoor basketball court, he’s not a well known sporting figure. You put him in an identity parade along side other Indian captains, not many people will identity him. That’s a bit of an irony considering he’s probably one of the most decorated of active basketball athletes in India currently.
“Six national gold, one silver, one bronze,” he says. “Around 10 medals with the Indian team (he was part of the side that famously won the Lusofonia Games gold in Goa).”
However, the lack of recognition (he got the Arjuna only in 2020) and popularity away from the arena doesn’t bother him. “(Laughs) it doesn’t frustrate me, once my game is popular, I will be popular. I don’t need popularity. We play for our country, we don’t play for popularity.” It seems to be a popular theme in his answers. In the 11-minute conversation, one thing stands out. His repeated assertions of ‘India’, ‘country’ and ‘nation’ stands out.
Considering Bhriguvanshi has played for the national team for more than 10 years, he is the ideal person to ask about the sport’s growth in that time. “Going good,” he says. “
We are on the right track. 2018-19 we weren’t there but now we are. We have qualified for the Asia Cup and are in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers. We also have a good expectations for the Asia Cup but are in a tough group. We will try to win all matches but if we don’t, we will take that as a learning experience.”
Bhriguvanshi is also optimistic because he understands that the INBL (a new domestic 5×5 event on the lines of the IPL) could start as early as this year. “The main league (5 on 5) BFI is hosting after the Asian Games,” he says. “Indian team will also start performing better (after the league begins).”
On the game against Indian Railway, he says it went according to plan in the last quarter and beyond. “In my mind, I’m more experienced. It was decided that I would hold the ball and try to make the play and I would pass it to others if they put pressure on me. It went well, like we had planned. In the end, we got the win.”
More performances like this and he could well inspire Uttarakhand to another national gold.
Results: Men: UP bt Telangana 77-69, Services bt Punjab 101-84, Kerala bt Karnataka 81-71, Uttarakhand bt Indian Railway 101-92, TN bt Haryana 75-48. Women: Punjab bt Assam 72-37, Indian Railway bt MP 94-38, Telangana bt Karnataka 90-53, Maharashtra bt UP 75-66, Rajasthan bt Odisha 78-63, Kerala bt TN 63-49.
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