Four junior players from the eliminated squad were selected for the UP state camp

For the state team camp, the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA) controversially decided to include players from the squad that was dismissed for playing ineligible players at the junior state championships. The UPBA withdrew the Hapur squad from the championships held in Baraut from April 18–22 after the district of Gautam Budh Nagar complained that some players on the team were not from the area.

Nonetheless, four players from the same squad—Ardhya Mishra, Harshit, Abhiyudang, and Jatin Hooda—have been called up to the state camp, which will be coached by Pradeep Tomar, in order to be ready for the Junior Nationals, which start on May 8 in Indore.

It’s interesting to note that Tomar coached the Hapur squad as well. India defeated 50-63 against Kazakhstan and 53-86 to Iran in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, where Tomar served as Veselin Matic’s assistant coach.

The Gautam Budh Nagar chief coach Chandan Sharma and team manager Keshav Bharadwaj cited the cases of Ghaziabad resident Subham Rawat, who had represented the city in the U-17 championships in 2023, and Noida school student Krishna Tyagi as evidence of the infractions in their joint complaint.

“I kindly ask that you debar the district Hapur team by taking the appropriate measures. The letter of protest written to the president and secretary general of the UPBA said, “Please take strict action so that these kinds of things are not repeated in the future.”

However, Virendra Vikram Singh, the secretary general of the UPBA, said that other players may still join the preparation camp as the Hapur squad had already been disciplined. “We moved, and the squad dispersed. We followed the instructions given to us under the given situation,” Singh said to The Tribune. “The lads listed in the complaint have not been chosen by us. It is incorrect to ask us to ban every gamer since doing so would be very unfair on other players, he said.