FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: India’s qualifying hopes on line in crucial showdown against Kazakhstan

India is languishing at the bottom of its qualifying group, and a loss against Kazhakstan could virtually end its hopes of securing a spot in the tournament Finals in Saudi Arabia next August.

India is coming off a disappointing 53- 69 loss against a lower-ranked Qatar side. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Indian men’s basketball team will look to conclude its home leg of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on a positive note when it faces off against a resilient Kazakhstan side at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

With three losses in three games so far, India is languishing at the bottom of its qualifying group, and a loss against Kazhakstan could virtually end its hopes of securing a spot in the tournament Finals in Saudi Arabia next August.

The team is coming off a disappointing 53- 69 loss against a lower-ranked Qatar side on Friday, in what was head coach Scott Flemming’s first competitive test since taking over the side for a second time in May.

Despite Flemming’s claims that its biggest strength lies in three-point shooting, India managed to score only 10 out of the 40 attempted three-pointers during the clash against Qatar.

READ | FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: India’s qualification chances drop after loss to lower-ranked Qatar

“I don’t think we ran out of gas. I don’t think we played poorly. We were down by five after the first half, and if we had come out and hit the first three or four shots, we could have been up by a couple,” Flemming said after the loss to Qatar.

“Maybe we should have attacked the basket more, but we are not going to beat great teams without shooting the ball well,” he added.

After three rounds of matches in the qualifying tournament, India is ranked 23rd out of 24 nations in terms of three-pointer conversion rate, with 24.1 per cent. Palestine sits at the bottom with 22.9 per cent.

Against Qatar, Indian captain Muin Bek Hafeez was the only decent shooter from the three-point line, scoring five out of his seven attempts in the first half.

On the other hand, Kazhakstan is coming into the match after handing group topper Iran a default win (20-0) after refusing to travel to Tehran for their clash in the previous round. Despite this, the nation sits second with narrow wins against Qatar and India.

In the reverse fixture played in Kazhakstan, the home side came back from a first-quarter deficit to beat India 63-50.

Rustam Murzagaliyev has been the standout performer for the side, leading the charts in efficiency per game (14.0), points per game (16.5) and assists per game (4.0).

“They (Kazhakstan) may not be very athletic, but they are a good team,” Flemming said.

“But we’ll be ready. We are an up-tempo team, and Qatar kind of took us out of that rhythm. We missed probably four or five easy layups when we were looking to make it back into the game. So hopefully we get some and convert more easy baskets against Kazhakstan,” he concluded.

India needs to finish in the top two of its group to guarantee a place in the 16-team Finals. If India places third, it will enter a playoff round with the other five third-placed teams for the remaining four spots.

Squad: Amjyot Singh, Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon, Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu, Harsh Dagar, Kushal Singh, Muin Bek Hafeez, Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi, Arvindh Kumar Muthu Krishnan, Prashant Singh Rawat, Pranav Prince, Palpreet Singh Brar, Princepal Singh