The Captains Professional Basketball Pvt Ltd (CPBL), in collaboration with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), announced today at an exclusive press conference the launch of the Pro International Basketball League (InBL PRO U-25), an initiative to transform Indian basketball by providing superior opportunities. The league is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2025, with six teams competing for the championship. Following the start, one game will be played each day.
The competition will be finishing with the final four in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of March 2025. The players will be auctioned off on January 9, 2025, and will include both Indian and international talent from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. This will signal the start of a daring new chapter in Indian basketball. The participating teams are from five different locations, Punjab, Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
Basketball’s Big Leap in India
Each squad will consist of 12 players. Each team consists of six Indian under-25 players and six international players. The league will include 12 international coaches and six Indian assistant coaches to ensure high-quality training and development. As part of this agreement, Indian players will train in Auckland. Before representing India in five months of international competition against other professional teams.
Rupinder Brar, chairman of the INBL Pro, discussed why they started a basketball league in India. He highlighted his intention to establish a pathway for Indian talent with the potential to compete on the world stage. He said, “The idea of this league came because basketball is a famous sport in the world but there is no league here. There’s a Kabaddi league, a soccer league but basketball is missing and my father was a basketball coach.”
NBA has seen representation from Indian-origin players like Satnam Singh and Sim Bhullar. But they did not have the expected impact. As a result, aspiring Indian cagers have few success stories to draw from. The decision to create a women’s InBL league will be taken next year, based on the commercial success of the men’s league and an appraisal of women’s basketball skills.
