After a tiring evening practice session, Saakshi Dikshit, the captain of the Girls’ Basketball team engaged in a conversation with the BOSM English Press where she talked about the game, the team, and her experience as captain.
Basketball, which is considered one of the major attractions in BOSM, is a team sport where two teams of five players each compete to shoot a ball into a hoop placed 10 feet above the ground. A field goal is awarded two points unless it is shot from beyond the three-point mark, in which case it is worth three. A foul grants the opposing team “free throws” each worth one point. The team which scores more points by the end of the 48-minute mandated time wins. However, a tie will lead to additional time being played.
The team consists majorly of second year undergraduate students, but a research scholar and a graduate student are also playing. According to Saakshi, the team is aiming for nothing short of glory this BOSM. Though the team could only secure fourth place last BOSM, they placed third at IIT Roorkee last semester. The team is coached by Ravindra Shekhawat, a former national level player and BSF serviceman who took the responsibility up a couple weeks ago. As the fest is just a few days away, the coach is focusing more on strategies rather than skill development. Talking about the other competing teams, Saakshi said, ‘All the DU teams are very good, however Jamia, SRCC and JMC are the main contenders.’ Saakshi also mentioned that the Sports Council had been very helpful to the team and had been paying heed to all of their concerns.
Having never being formally trained before entering college, Saakshi claims that she is still only learning as she plays. Speaking about her position as the captain, she said, ‘It requires a lot of discipline. Pushing everyone else along with myself is the tough part.’ As a third year dualite, the Kobe Bryant fan finds it quite tiresome to manage her academics along with captaincy.
As BOSM closes in, the team hopes to get all the support they can from BITSians to achieve success.