DOHA (Qatar) - Special. That's a word that you might associate with this India national team at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2022 here in Doha.

"This is a very special group. We all are very excited."

Powered by a quintet of up-and-coming stars, India are now one of the last 8 teams standing and one win away from a U17 World Cup debut. The South Asian powerhouse have been pushing for the development of young talents over the recent years and now we're seeing another promising wave of players emerge.

Wherever the road ends here in Qatar, whether this historic run can keep going or not, there's no denying that this team really is special.

One for the history books

India struggled a bit to start the game against Indonesia, but were able to keep their heads down and work their way to building a big lead. By the time the final buzzer sounded, India had secured their biggest win of the U16 Asian Championship so far with a 44-difference.

More than just the big win itself was the consequence of the victory as it meant that India had now advanced to the Quarter-Finals of the competition.

Throughout the history of the U16 Asian Championship, India have never made it this far. They've played in every edition of the event - all five - prior to this one in Qatar, but none of their teams have ever reached this stage.

Not when Satnam Singh was dominating the paint back in 2011. Not even in 2018 with Princepal Singh and Harshwardan Tomar.

But here they are this year in 2022, preparing themselves for a clash against Japan in the round of the final 8 teams. They've made their mark as one of the best teams here as well, leading all teams in steals with 18.3 per game, while also being third among all teams in assists with 19.3 per contest.

Japan might be a tough team to go up against, but don't rule out this India team just yet.

"We are all very excited, looking forward to the Quarter-Finals, and will do our best to win," said Lokendra Singh, one of the team's leaders, who also goes by Loki.

Lokendra Singh

"This is a very special group. We all are very excited. We were working very hard for the past two months for this stage and we are ready."

Brotherhood

Again, special is the key word here for this team. When Loki says that this is a "very special group", he isn't the only one that thinks so.

"We all share a special bond," added Jaideep Rathore. "We have been living together, eating together, everything, for the past few years. We understand each other very nicely on the court and off the court."

Jaideep Rathore 

Lokendra, Jaideep, Harsh Dagar, Kushal Singh, and Janmejay Singh - the starting five of this team - have all been playing with each other at the NBA Academy. The bond is even tighter especially in the cases of Lokendra, Harsh, and Kushal, who have been with the Academy since they were 14.

You can clearly see on the court the result of all that time spent together, specifically while bettering themselves as basketball players. Lokendra, as shooting guard, is averaging a double-double of 14.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.8 steals per game. His game against Indonesia was among one of the best individual performances so far where he put up 30 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Jaideep has been just as impressive. The 1.77M (5'10") point guard is leading all players in assists (6.3 per game), second in steals (5.0 per game), and top five in scoring (19.0 per game).

With Lokendra and Jaideep on the perimeter, Kushal handles business down in the paint. The 1.95M (6'5") power forward is the second leading scorer in the tournament at 22.5 points per game while also racking up 8.3 rebounds per contest.

Kushal Singh

Big brother experience

Aside from improving their game while practicing with each other for a large amount of time, these youngsters have also benefitted from being able to be around the senior national team at such a young age.

Coach Veselin Matic has called up these promising prospects to be involved with the training camps and practices of the senior national team and is even coaching this U16 squad himself. These teenagers have been able to learn and soak up experience from legends of India basketball like Vishesh Bhriguvashi.

"It has been 3 years since we've been practicing with the senior team," said Harsh Dagar. "Vishesh has always been giving me and all the teammates advice like how to improve our skills."

Harsh Dagar

While Bhriguvanshi is not with the team in Qatar and deep in preparation for the upcoming third window of the World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers, he's been keeping an eye on his proteges as usual.

"This Indian U16 team is performing really well," Bhriguvashi said of the team. "These kids are our successors and with their talent, I feel that the future of Indian Basketball is in safe hands."

"For obvious reasons, we want them to achieve way more than we could."

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi

 Tri-Color Pride

Don't forget: this is the first time that these kids are representing India in a FIBA event. And judging by how well they're going in their debut, it won't be their last.

"It's a very great feeling of representing our nation at this level," said Loki. "All the teams from all over Asia are really good and it's very nice to play against them, get exposure."

They've already made history by coming this far in the competition and they certainly have the potential to achieve much more. Whether those achievements will come in this U16 Asian Championship or in the other events to come, we'll later see for ourselves as we keep watching - just as big time fans like Bhriguvashi are doing.

"I know you all are putting your best foot forward," Bhriguvanshi added as a piece of advice and encouragement. "Keep up with that amazing team game and extraordinary defense. We all are eyeing you from India and are proud of you all."

"Chak de India, Jai Hind!"

FIBA