Nothing cagey about Shahid

Bihar's Shahid Qureshi at the village. Bangalore, June 4: He looks like a boxer, and talks like one too. Some may call him a chatterbox, ...

Bihar’s Shahid Qureshi at the village.

Bangalore, June 4: He looks like a boxer, and talks like one too. Some may call him a chatterbox, but on the basketball court, Shahid Qureshi is a class act. The former international, who represents Bihar by virtue of being a TISCO employee, had recently taken a sabbatical from the sport. But, six months later, he is back to lend his shoulder to Bihar’s campaign in the National Games.

When the moment of reckoning came — his first match after the break he rose to the occasion as is his wont, scoring 27 points in Bihar’s victory over Rajasthan.

This came as a big surprise, for Qureshi, having put on weight, was not expected to play the full 40 minutes. But, on court, Qureshi dribbled and weaved his way past his opponents and scored baskets in great style.But not many know that the prodigiously talented Qureshi, who learnt the game in the ghettos of Mumbai, has come here on a mission.

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He had wanted to prove here that he, and Bihar, were the best in the country. But after two games, both of which Bihar won, Qureshi is a disillusioned man.

“I am not half as fit as I used to be and yet I scored 27 points in my first match in months. Mind you, this is against the best talent available in the country,” he avers.

On the competition front, there is nothing much to drive Qureshi, but the 25-year-old derives inspiration from his team. “Bihar is full of players from Tatas, Jamshedpur. I have complete freedom in my role as captain and the players are exhorted to give their best. We are told to play without pressure and, most important, there is excellent camaraderie in our team.”Bihar, he assures, will “lick everybody on their way to the title now that we have discovered that many others play the game with little commonsense.” He supports his statement by giving an example. “Our match against Punjab, who have five current internationals in their ranks, was important. But despite being short on stamina, we beat them convincingly. That was because the Punjab coach thinks for his team and the players just act out their roles.”

Qureshi, who was the first Indian to play professional basketball abroad (in Sweden) and second to get individual sponsorships (after Sunil Panda), reflects on those developments with cynicism.

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“For any player, that should have been the start. But not for me. The game is not run properly in the country and when I raise a ruckus, I am victimised. The authorities do not like criticism, constructive or otherwise. How can the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) function with such attitude?”

Oureshi does not mince words when he says that he would never have learned in India what he did while playing for Akropol in Sweden. “Players here take straight shots. Nobody challenges you, pressurises you,” he says.Qureshi, like any sportsman, hates defeats and that is typified in his statements: “India’s losses still pain me, but I am no longer inspired to represent the country. The attitude of the current Indian team is bad. Their motivation ends once they face their rivals. All they want is to go abroad and feel nice about it.”

Qureshi has his remedies to boost the standard of the game, here. “Basketball should be marketed well, like cricket. Once the money starts flowing in, the infrastructure should be built. The game should be played with leather and not with rubber balls. Rubber causes more injuries to the fingers because of sweat staying on the surface and subsequently making it slippery. The game is essentially an indoor game but we play on cement. We are in medieval times,” he rues.

Though disillusioned, Qureshi’s retains a fair amount of optimism. “Some day, basketball will be lifted from its mire and elevated to give it a better status. And it will happen.”