Akilan Pari (born 20 July 1989) is an Indian professional basketball player. He currently plays for the Punjab Steelers of India's UBA Pro Basketball League. [1]

Akilan Pari
Akilan Pari with Income Tax in 2015
Punjab Steelers
PositionPoint guard
LeagueUBA Pro Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1989-07-20) 20 July 1989 (age 35)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
NationalityIndian
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
NBA draft2010: undrafted
Playing career2010–present
Career history
2017–presentPunjab Steelers

He is a member of India's national basketball team since 2014. As of 2018, he serves as team captain[2] of India's national basketball team.[3][4]

Pari already made a name for himself as a youth player. He captained Tamil Nadu's official state lineups for the u-13, u-16 and u-18 (junior) and senior men level.[5]

During the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, Akila Pari was selected to play at the Sprite Uncontainable Game, where he was coached by Omri Casspi and Serge Ibaka.[6]

As of 2018, he has been labelled as one of India's best basketball players[7] because of his passing and ball handling skills, and because of complicated engagement rules, missed a crucial playoff game against Lebanon, a game which India lost[8] because of his absence.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ India - FIBA Asia Challenge 2016, FIBA.com, accessed 2 April 2017.
  2. ^ "India's Men's basketball roster announced for FIBA World Cup qualifying games next week". 18 November 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. ^ TN squads for senior National basketball named, The Hindu, 14 January 2018. Accessed 7 April 2018.
  4. ^ 15th SSN Trophy Championship Concluded Successfully, Expressnews, 23 August 2017. Accessed 7 April 2018.
  5. ^ AKILAN PARI – LIVING HIS BASKETBALL DREAMS, Gopalakrishnan R, ekalavyas.com, accessed 26 April 2017.
  6. ^ The Sprite Uncontainable Game: Meet the Players from Estonia, India and Lithuania, Colleen Oakley, coca-colacompany.com, 4 February 2013. Accessed 7 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Punjab Suffer Second Successive Deteat". 4 August 2016.
  8. ^ Chidananda, Shreedutta (26 February 2018). "Lebanese hoopsters too good for India". Hindu. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  9. ^ Engagement rules Akilan Pari out of India’s basketball World Cup qualifier, Ashim Sunam, The New INDIAN EXPRESS, 24 February 2018. Accessed 3 April 2018.
edit