Basketball at Gunpoint: The harsh realities of corruption in Indian basketball

Here's an article of mine that was recently published of SLAMOnline.com. It is a modified version of my article Farceketball: Indian basketball's rotten core.

Sport is supposed to be different. Sport is supposed to be a platform where a combination of talent, practice, and luck mesh together to create an alternative reality. In a vast and culturally dense country like India, the population is divided amongst millions of subgroups by state, language, caste, color, profession, and politics.


But sports, and in our case, basketball, is supposed to be different — when basketball players step on to the court, something in their nature changes. They are no longer the desk clerk, the IT technician, the law-student, the father of two, the Hindu, the Muslim, the Marxist, or the liberal. They become basketball players. All the other staples of community division go out the window — the rich man doesn’t always win, the darker one isn’t discriminated against, the educated holds no advantage over the illiterate.

Well, all that is supposed to happen, anyways.

There are not many who take the sport seriously in India, but for the small population who do, basketball is their lifeline, their way out of dreaded pigeonholing in everyday society, where a boy in the service class will take a government job just like his father and a girl — any girl — will be married off sooner than she can learn to pronounce “Independence”. This is obviously not the trend in the modern, urban, upper-class Indian society; but the majority of middle and lower class ball players prefer to live in the alternative reality where their jump shot is more valuable to the world than the caste they were born into.

For these serious ball players, the basketball court is held in reverence, respected like a temple, where all other realities become blurred away leaving room for something that puts them on a common playing field, something that is fair.

But what is the point of reverence when it is nothing but a farce? When games are played not to win but to pave way for the ‘natural order’ of sport in the country; when results are determined not by the team with the more talent but the team with the stronger voice?

Here is the latest example: Last month, the All India Inter University Basketball tournament, featuring the best college-level talent in the country, concluded in my hometown of Varanasi. Hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), this tournament featured the best four teams from each of the four zones in the country. 16 teams took part in this exciting competition, which featured two local teams in the final — the hosts BHU versus the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV). BHU beat MGKV 63-56 to lift the trophy in front of their home fans, and thus became the best university basketball team in the country.

But the result is far from the complete truth. Players from visiting Delhi and Rajasthan universities alleged that they had to forfeit or lose their games over threats at gunpoint!


To everyone’s shock (or perhaps not), the entire starting five of the MGKV squad didn’t play a single minute in the tournament’s final against the BHU. These included 23-year-old Vikram ‘Dicky’ Parmar, the best player in the tournament, and one of the most talented young players in the country. The excuses for this ranged from “mild injuries” to “protecting the players from future injuries”.

Really? Why would you protect your players in the FINAL of the most important basketball tournament of their time in university?

The truth is this: It had been agreed from before that the MGKV coach would only play his reserves against BHU in the final, so that BHU could win their hometown tournament and BHU’s longtime revered coach KN Rai would be given a victorious retirement party.

The game itself exposed this charade further — after trailing for most of the three quarters, MGKV reserves actually made an amazing comeback in the fourth and took a one-point lead against BHU in the final two minutes. At this point, the MGKV coach had a word with his second squad, and subsequently, MGKV players practically gave up, loosening up their defense and standing around as the BHU scored freely to pick up a victory.

The most shocking fact about this farce isn’t that the above mentioned incidents took place; it is that everyone involved with the tournament and the teams taking part in the finals silently let it happen. The crowd, although uncomfortable with the happenings on court, simply sat back and watched. The media made a soft whimper about it on the following days, but the organizing associations turned a blind eye. Even the coaches and players of MGKV could only respond with a sigh, agreeing “these things just happen.”


They just happen. When I spoke to former UP player and Varanasi-based basketball coach Jitendar Kumar about this incident, his only response was that these things are “natural” in such tournaments — everyone from the referees, gun-toting bullies, and even opposing coaches and players get involved in making sure the home squads take the trophy. The teams agree to the result: That is what is supposed to happen because it always does.

Let me also add Varanasi has had a reputation of being uniquely illustrious in churning out national-level basketball talents. Unfortunately, this ancient city, also known for attracting pilgrims and tourists from around the world, happens to be in one of India’s major crime belts across Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

In the days following this story, I received a range of reactions from the fans. Subhash Mahajan, who is a basketball coach in rural parts of India, shared that he wasn’t surprised with the result, adding the sport is tainted on every district, state, or institution level in the country.

Players from the other teams who took part in the competition also complained of how the atrocities could take place under the nose of some of the event’s organizers. I can’t think of an apt NBA equivalent — how about Gilbert Arenas threatening the Lakers at gunpoint to lose the NBA Finals, right under David Stern’s eye. The gunpoint thing may not be completely unimaginable in Arenas’ case, although the thought of the Wizards in the Finals may be a bit too farfetched.

A reader of my blog, Vivek Taterway, once shared this tragic story: “My brother, who had mistakenly scored a goal at a University Football Tournament many summers ago at their rival’s home ground, barely escaped with his life. He actually ran off before the game ended! Today that event is recalled at family gatherings with loads of laughter but the irony cannot be missed.”

If the biggest university-level championship is treated under such conditions, we are doing nothing but corrupting the very core of what will shape our national sport teams in the future. What is the point of being true to basketball when those who run it won’t be true to you? If Indian authorities are really serious about promoting basketball as a major sport in India, it should first clean out such practices in all levels — a task much easier said than done, and for as long as our authorities remain corrupt, there is no chance of any serious attempt at this.

Basketball (and sport) is supposed to be an escape from the harsh realities from life’s other trends and professions, but we have unfortunately become used to accepting a corrupt system as the only reality. We need a united effort in the fans, players, and federation to fight against this. Let’s not convince our players to corrupt the one thing in life they love most: basketball.

*First published on SLAMOnline.com on March 9, 2010.

Farceketball - Indian Basketball's Rotten Core

This feature is following up the story I had written earlier, titled Guns, Fraud, and Basketball, and it was published in the third edition of the Sports Keeda e-magazine.

When basketball players step on to the court, something in their nature changes. They are no longer the desk clerk, the IT technician, the law-student, the father of two, the Hindu the Muslim, the Marxist, or the Shiv-Sainik. They become basketball players.

Before taking their first step on the revered basketball court, it is common practice for the player to bend down and touch the ground, taking its blessings, just like he would do before entering a temple. That is the reverence a basketball court has – so much so that it is worshipped and respected in the same manner as a God would. It blurs every other thing in the player’s life, and basketball becomes the only focus in his or her mind.

But what is the point of reverence when it is nothing but a farce? When games are played not to win but to pave way for the ‘natural order’ of sport in the country; when results are determined not by the team with the more talent but the team with the stronger voice?



Earlier this month, the All India Inter University Basketball tournament concluded in my hometown of Varanasi. Hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), this tournament featured the best four teams from each of the four zones in the country. The press release of this tournament would probably tell you that the best 16 university teams in the country took part in an exciting competition, leading up to the final which featured two of the local teams, the hosts BHU and the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV). BHU beat MGKV 63-56 in a close-fought final game to lift the trophy in front of their home fans, and thus became the best university basketball team in the country, providing a memorable finale to the career of retiring BHU coach KN Rai.

But the result is far from the entire truth. Players from visiting Delhi and Rajasthan universities claimed that they had to forfeit or lose their games over threats at gunpoint. In the final, the MGKV played without their starting five, including star player Vikram ‘Dicky’ Parmar, and their rallying reserves threw away a one-point lead in the final minutes to pave way for a BHU victory.

The most shocking fact about this farce isn’t that the above mentioned incidents took place; it is that everyone involved with the tournament and the teams taking part in the finals silently let it happen. The crowd, although uncomfortable with the happenings on court, simply sat back and watched. The media made a soft whimper about it on the following days, but the organizing associations turned a blind eye. Even the coaches and players of the MGKV could only respond with a sigh, agreeing that “these things just happen.”

They just happen. When I spoke to former UP player and Varanasi-based basketball coach Jitendar Kumar about this incident, his only response was that these things are “natural” in such tournaments – everyone from the referees, gun-toting bullies, and even opposing coaches and players get involved in making sure that the home squads take the trophy. The teams agree to the result: that is what is “supposed to happen”, because it always does.



So it is compulsory for the best four teams from each zone to participate, even though participation is truly absurd when the winners have already been decided. Even former BHU player and Indian national Women’s team star Divya Singh wrote, “I know these University championships are like this… whoever hosts the championship does whatever they want... referees are corrupt in these championships.”

But the players who participate in these championships are the same players who will become our countries best basketball players in the future – if the biggest university-level championship is treated under such conditions, we are doing nothing but corrupting the very core of what will shape our national basketball in the future. What is the point of being true to the game that won’t be true to you? If Indian authorities are really serious about promoting basketball as a major sport in India, it should first clean out such practices in all levels.

When basketball players step on the court, something in their nature changes, to beautifully make them one with the game they respect and with nothing else besides it. Let’s not convince our players to corrupt the one thing they love the most: basketball.



This story was first published in the February edition of the Sports Keeda e-magazine. Click here to download the magazine.

Guns, Fraud, and Basketball...

It keeps getting worse...



Nearly ten days ago, the All India Inter-University Basketball Tournament concluded in my hometown of Varanasi, or V-Town, which is my semi-affectionate moniker for the city. The tournament, which was hosted by the city's old and much-revered Banaras Hindu University (BHU) featured four teams from each of the four zones in the country. BHU fell in the East Zone, which also featured another V-Town team, the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV).

The tournament ended controversially, with BHU beating the MGKV in the final (held on February 1) at their homecourt. Rumours were already afloat that the tournament's organizers had predetermined the results so that the two hometown teams face off against each other in the final. Now, players of Delhi University (North Zone) that attended this tournament are claiming that they were threatened at gunpoint to forfeit their semi-final match.



Pardon my French, but this is truly f*cked up (from Times of India):

Delhi University's basketball team has alleged that it was forced to forfeit its inter-university semi-final match at gunpoint in Banaras because the organisers were keen on two local teams making it to the final.
"The BHU team couldn't even win a single round and here it has won an all-India event! It's wrong when players are threatened and harmed, and sports takes a backseat to politics," Ajay Kumar, Delhi team's manager said.
The Rajasthan University team too forfeited its match. "We had to leave the quarterfinal against BHU midway because they were assaulting and threatening my players on court. They even put a pistol to the head of one of the boys. Our vice-chancellor has written a formal complaint," said Bharat, coach of the Jaipur-based team.
Understandably shaken, the Delhi players conveyed their fears to the BHU authorities and also to All India Universities under-secretary Gurdeep Singh. But no action followed.

[The organizing committee's secretary Vidyasager] went on to insinuate that he had been forewarned by Singh that the Delhi team would "cook up" such charges. "The Delhi boys never looked like they were serious about playing. Gurdeep Singh had told me that these boys would go to the media and say things. The boys were completely out of hand.

Now, of course there is no proof of the gunpoint threats yet, but ask anyone who was at the tournament's final and it was obvious that BHU had been predetermined to win this tournament. The tournament referees were being blamed for favouring the home side. I was present in some of the group round games, and while I couldn't make it to the final, some of my contacts including Varanasi's former basketball coaches, event organizers, and MGKV players painted a pretty dismal picture.

To everyone's shock (or perhaps not), the entire starting five of the MGKV squad didn't play a single minute in the tournament's final against the BHU. These included 23-year-old Vikram 'Dicky' Parmar, the best player in the tournament, and one of the most talented young players in the country. The excuses for this ranged from "mild injuries" to "protecting the players from future injuries", but that is all really bullcrap - why would you protect your players in the FINAL of the most important basketball tournament of their time in university?



The truth is that it had been agreed from before that the MGKV coach would only play his reserves against BHU in the final, so that BHU could win their hometown tournament, and BHU's longtime revered coach KN Rai would be given a victorious retirement party.

But it got worse - after trailing most of the game, the MGKV reserves actually made an amazing comeback in the fourth quarter, and took a one-point lead against the BHU in the final two minutes. At this point, the MGKV coach had a word with his second squad, and subsequently, MGKV players practically gave up, loosening up their defense and standing around as the BHU scored freely to pick up a 63-56 victory. My brother Harsh, who attended the final, said that it was the most shameful thing he has seen on a basketball court. The crowd watched on in uncomfortable silence and the local newspapers the following day said that MGKV only played to assist a BHU victory. But nothing would change the result.

Despite the fact that teams such as Delhi University, SRM University, or even the MGKV fielded much better squads, the BHU came off as victors. So whether or not the Delhi boys 'cooked-up' the gunpoint story, one way or another, the last team standing was always going to be the BHU.

On a personal note, it's tragic for me to see such a fraud taking place in my hometown, which in recent years has groomed great basketball talents such as Trideep Rai, Divya Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and now, Vikram Parmar.