Basketball

The Fab Five of Mizoram basketball

Gopalakrishnan R writes about the five marquee players that shine brightest on the court at the Mizoram Super League.

Written by Gopalakrishnan R

5 min readPublished on 21.11.2018 · 17:58 UTC

The 2008 documentary More than a Game chronicles the larger-than-life journey of current NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his teammates at St Vincent–St Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. The ‘Fab Five’ of the documentary stick together through tremendous adversity and are crowned Division II state champions, after a seven-year struggle. The Fab Five – especially James’ heroic feats – went on to capture the imagination of basketball enthusiasts in the USA.

Almost 12,800 kilometres away from Ohio, another basketball story is being played out in Mizoram – a state with a passion for basketball that is unrivalled in India.

Mizoram seems to be a state that almost asks to be discovered, in a sense. The hilly terrain, dense forest cover, and old, weather-beaten roads leading to the state capital Aizawl have meant that visitors rarely venture to this north-eastern frontier.

As my bus snaked through the capital city, I could see a lush green football field overlooking a picturesque valley. Football is the number one sport in the state, but basketball has been catching up. This is primarily because of the introduction of the Mizoram Super League, India’s first-ever professional basketball league.

Introduced in 2014, the Mizoram Super League (MSL) is the culmination of a massive multi-tiered grass-roots structure spread across the state. Through its four seasons so far, the MSL has aimed to improve the standard of basketball, encourage youth to pick up the sport from an early age, provide a livelihood to players, and be a source of refreshing local ‘sportainment’.

The MSL has created a devoted fan following for its eight franchises, and the players have taken to it. In particular, five top players stand out for their abilities on the court, convincingly disproving the stereotype that North Easterners are “too short to play basketball”.

Here are the fab five of Mizoram basketball, who are inspiring the next generation of ballers from the state to take flight.

Lalrina Renthlei

Position: Shooting guard
MSL team: Zarkawt BC

Renthlei is the reigning MVP of the MSL. For this all-round athlete, basketball is just one of many achievements. The 27-year-old is an accomplished snooker player, having won the 2011 Junior National Snooker Championship and also reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 U21 World Snooker Championships. A contemporary of Pankaj Advani, Renthlei switched to professional basketball when the MSL was launched four years ago. He claims that cue sports have helped him develop mental strength, which explains his hobby for reading problem-solving books like The Champion’s Mind and The Chimp Paradox. He is also a sneakerhead who runs an online sneaker store. In June 2018, he made history as the first player from the North East in over a decade to make it to the Indian senior national team camp. Renthlei is also one of the only Mizo players to have successfully dunked in the MSL.

H Laldinsanga

Position: Point guard
MSL team: Khatla TBL

Laldinsanga was born in 1985, just two years before Mizoram was declared a state. And thus he grew up with a fate that was inextricably linked to the fate of his young home state. “Mapuia” or “Sanga”, as he is reverentially known, took full advantage of the cable television boom of the 1990s, watching Michael Jordan videos and then immediately trying out those moves in his backyard. He is the first and only player from the North East – not just from Mizoram, but all eight states – to play on the Indian national basketball team. Sanga is regarded as the ‘Godfather of Mizoram Basketball’. The five-feet-eight-inch 33-year-old was the MVP in the first season of the MSL. He also doubles up as the assistant coach of the Indian national team. Such is Sanga’s legacy in the state that a popular joke doing the rounds of Mizoram basketball circles is that MSL stands for “Mapuia Super League”.

Zonuna

Position: Point guard
MSL team: Zarkawt BC

With a name that sounds like a footballer from Brazil, Zonuna has the bag of tricks to match. The 20-year-old is lightning quick on offence with a trigger-happy shot. Zonuna is always ready to fire from deep or drive into the paint, which makes him incredibly hard to defend against. The five-foot-nine-inch guard is considered the future of Mizoram basketball. With heaps of talent and not enough local competition to make him sweat, Zonuna could well be the Sanga of tomorrow.

Vanlalthazuala

Position: Shooting guard
MSL team: Khatla TBL

Vanlalthazuala is currently pursuing BSc in Mathematics at Sharda University, Greater Noida. The six-foot shooting guard may seem undersized for his position, but his incredible upper body strength makes up for it. With a penchant for driving to the rim and finishing strong, the 19-year-old is a beacon of hope to all those who think that lack of height is a hinderance to playing basketball at a high level. He is also able to produce amazing hangtime on his jumps.

Mathew Sailo

Position: Power forward/centre
MSL team: Zarkawt BC

The average height of people in Mizoram is five-foot-five-inches. With a frame that tops off at six-foot-five-inches, Sailo stands above the crowd. The 23-year-old grandson of the current Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla discovered his passion for hoops while studying at Woodstock School in Mussourie. His talent shone through when he scored 22 points against a Tuikual South team that featured national team stars Amjyot Singh Gill and Palpreet Singh Brar. Time will tell if he is able to realise his potential and make it to the national team. But the Kobe Bryant fan is definitely on the right track.