Elite Pro Basketball League: 204 player rosters announced for 12 teams

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Ever since India's first pro basketball league 'Elite Pro Basketball League' was announced, the league has been creating ripples be it player signings or try-outs or salaries.

The league has now announced the Pre-Season dates for the league and the team rosters for the 12 teams which consist of 204 players. The league will also include a minimum of 2 University players on each team giving them a chance to go professional.

The Pre-Season is scheduled for the month of February which will soon be followed by the main season. The Pre-Season will help players get to know each other and gel together as a team. The most attractive part of the Pre-Season all 204 players will be getting salaries additional to their season contracts. This becomes the first Basketball league in India who are paying heft salaries to all players something that was missing.

Talking about the same Sunny Bhandarkar, CEO of Elite Pro Basketball League said, "We wanted to have a Pre - Season so that the players can gel with each other. Though most players have either played together or against each other, we wanted to set a precedent on how to conduct professional tournaments. We would also be giving opportunities to university players to become pros; each team will have 2 players."

Adding further he said, "The icing on the cake is the additional salaries we are providing for pre-season which is excluding their contracts. We will leave no stone unturned to make this a landmark league and hope that it inspires the growth of Basketball in the country."

Sunil Rathee who recently represented India says, "A league like this is what Indian Basketball requires, attractive salaries, great coaches and staff, a platform where people can showcase their talents. Basketball has a lot of potential to grow in India and I hope this helps it grow."

The key signings include Indian national team players like Jagdeep Bains (Mumbai Stars), Pratham Singh (Pune Pythons) Prakash Mishra (Jaipur Giants). Other players include Basil Philip (Kochi Pachers), Vinay Kaushik (Chandigarh Conquerors), actor Arvind Krishna (Hyderabad Hoops), Ram Gopal (Lucknow Swarm), Ravikumar (Chennai Turbos), Rachit Singh (Punjab Gladiators), Karan Pal Singh (Ahmedabad Aces), Arshdeep Singh (Delhi Dominators) and Visu Palani (Bengaluru Stallions).