Punjab cager Palpreet named India captain for Asia Cup

Hailing from a nondescript village with population of less than a thousand, Palpreet Singh Brar has made the state proud with his success, having been named captain of the Indian senior men’s basketball team for the FIBA Asia Cup. The tournament will be held from August 5 to 17 in Saudi Arabia.

The 6’11” Palpreet hails from Kothe Surgapuri, which has population of about 750 and does not even have a sports ground to date, in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment here.

The 31-year-old, currently serving as Deputy Chief Inspector of Trains (Dy CIT) in the Indian Railways at Ludhiana, comes from a modest farming family. His father Farjinder Singh Brar was a Congress leader but quit politics nearly a decade ago.

Palpreet is the first sportsperson in his family. He began playing basketball in Class IX at Ludhiana and made history in 2016 by becoming the first Indian cager to be directly drafted into the NBA D-League, and the second India-born basketball player to reach this level. He was picked by the Long Island Nets, New York.

“Everyone in our family is tall, so the height and our natural build helped my son become a basketball player. He is now the captain of the Indian team. The position he has achieved today is because of his hard work, the Ludhiana Basketball Academy and destiny. Otherwise, no one from a remote village could even dream of reaching such heights,” Farjinder told The Tribune.

“I remember one of my friends, a police Inspector, had convinced me into sending Palpreet to the academy. His journey, however, was not easy, as some people keep creating one or the other hindrance. But he remained unbothered and kept going. We are thankful to God,” added Farjinder.

Residents said that their village has just one volleyball ground and that too in the Government Primary School. “We don’t even have a panchayat ghar, what to talk about the sports facilities,” a villager said.