That may be the reason why even when Shahid Qureshi is off the court, he remains the centre of attraction. As the game he plays has carved out a niche for him, his volatile expressions, particularly against the officialdom, have also earned him a bad name. He doesn't mind that because, as a pro, he realises the changing needs of the game and wants that the Basketball Federation of India, too, changes its attitude towards the players.

Qureshi played a full season in the Swedish league in Stockholm a couple of years ago, apart from his routine appearance for a club in Singapore. The stint at the Greek club Akropol, under a Yugoslavian coach, has brought out the best in him. Perhaps, the professional basketballer in Qureshi has made him call a spade a spade. He was in the Capital recently, leading his Tisco side in the all-India Master Prithvi Nath Memorial Basketball tournament. He spoke to SportsLine on the overall standard of the game that had seen the likes of Ajmer Singh and what portends for the future.

As the first thing, Qureshi does not give himself more than five to six years of active game, that is, if he survives in the battle with the BFI. ``I want the system changed. We have been seeing the same old bunch of people administering the affairs of the game. That is why there is no improvement,'' he says with a heavy heart.

What does he think should be done to bring in the changes? His answer is simple: Make the game more professional-oriented and incentive based. Then he goes on to reel off a selection policy that will be transparent, more courts, preferably wooden, promotion of the game at grassroots level and, above all, employing good coaches.

``Some of our coaches don't go beyond the drawing board. Even the so-called referees' clinics are just eyewashes. They are never updated with the latest rules. Several techniques have overtaken the game so much that we are still relying on what we have been practising for decades now. You don't have to see a professional league like the NBA. Even lesser teams from the Asian continent have picked up the latest techniques and perfected them. If we are not able to do so it is only because of lack of exposure,'' says Qureshi.

He may be right because the game does not figure on the priority list of our Sports Ministry. But then, even among the Asian nations, our ranking is not so good. Qureshi puts the blame squarely on the federation as well as the players for this sorry episode. He says, for a cager about 10-12 years are prime in his career. Within that period, he not not has to find a job that pays him well and also earn something that can keep him going after that.

``Nowadays, basketballers are an unwanted lot. It's very difficult to sustain. Once you are past the prime, either you are shunted out or pushed to a corner where you automatically start rotting. Hence it has become paramount that we have some professional leagues in India to help the hoopsters in their lean days,'' advocates Qureshi. The Mumbai-based Tisco officer gave his own example. ``I was fortunate to play in the Swedish league and earned quite handsomely to save enough. The sponsors of my Singapore club takes care of all my kits. They are very expensive and in Indian conditions (on cement courts) very necessary. Lesser mortals cannot afford such a luxury''.

Even Tisco has now stopped recruiting cagers as permanent hands. ``They are only giving contract employment because of the recession. If this can happen to a leading industrial house like Tisco, what will happen to others is anybody's guess,'' says Qureshi. And that is precisely the reason why Tisco has not been able to increase its bench strength. For instance, the team from Bihar -- primarily of Tisco -- won the Senior Nationals at Ludhiana last year with a skeleton strength.

According to Qureshi, a Chennai-based non-resident Indian was willing to pump in up to Rs. 80 lakh to start a professional league in the country some time ago. But the BFI, according to Qureshi, came in the way. Even Ajmer Singh was all for a format on the lines of the National Football League to improve the game. The only problem, he said, was money.

But then the BFI has been able to woo Doordarshan to enter into a contract for three years to telecast live the Nationals. The response seems to be encouraging. In the coming years, BFI can rake in more moolah. And that will be the occasion when it can think something like the NFL. Maybe, once a professional club takes shape, India's fortune in the game will also improve. But till then the game and players have to remain at the BFI mercy.