Indian Panthers' trouble deepens after National Camp delays Indian players' arrival for New Zealand Basketball League

The NZNBL side Indian Panthers are still without a full roster as the 8 Indian players who represent them are yet to travel.

The Indian Panthers preseason has not gone as smoothly as ownership of the newest Sal’s NBL team would have liked on the eve of their first game on Wednesday night. Indian national team camp has left the Panthers waiting a little longer for eight players.

Already hampered by a late finish to the Indian InBl Pro U25, which meant the Panthers had to bypass last week’s Westside Blitz due to visa issues, the latest hurdle will mean that coach Miles Pearce is unlikely to have his full roster until later this month.

However, with a quick change of plans comes opportunity, and this Wednesday’s season-opener will now see a mostly Kiwi team take the floor for the Panthers before the Indian national team players arrive in New Zealand.

Speaking on behalf of the League, Casey Frank, the League’s Media, Fans & Brand Manager, said it was a hiccup, but one that has seen several Kiwi players pitch in to help the Panthers out.

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“Similar to when the Tall Blacks call up players from the Sal’s NBL for national team duty, the same applies for the Panthers and the Indian national team,” said Frank.

“Ideally, you would like it to occur out of season for us, but it happens, and it’s been great to see several Kiwi players step up to help out.

“What the Panthers and Basketball New Zealand are doing is to a size and scale we have never seen in a New Zealand sports competition before, so we’ll roll with the punches and do all we can to support the Panthers until their national team players arrive.”

This reason for the late decision to hold a camp is that the Indian Basketball Federation has called for an extended national team roster to attend camp as they prepare for the just-announced FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifying tournament, for which the Indian National team has yet to book its place. 

With the March 21-23 Games confirmed, the Indian national team’s preparations have begun in full swing, which means most of the Panthers’ Indian roster has become unavailable.

To ensure Sal’s NBL season tips off on schedule, the NBL Commission has granted a special dispensation to the Panthers that allows them to make a roster of Kiwi players for the first few games of the 2025 season. While roster details are yet to be confirmed, this course of action was seen as a necessary step to ensure that the 2025 season would be able to commence as scheduled. 

The 2025 Sal’s NBL season tips off this Wednesday when the Indian Panthers visit the Hawkes Bay Hawks – catch all the action on Sky Sport from 6 pm (NZT, on ESPN in the United States, and across the world on FIBA YouTube.

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