Pranav Verma, who has been selected for the Junior NBA Global Championships, has said that it is a dream come true for him to play in the USA. The Indian basketball player has also added that he will get a great opportunity to learn new skills by playing against some best teams in the world.

Hyderabad youngster Pranav Verma has been picked up in the Indian basketball team for the prestigious Junior NBA Global Championships which will be held in Orlando in the United States of America from August 6 to 11 this year. Although Telangana didn’t do well in the National Selection Tournament in Delhi, Verma scored 25 and 16 points in the league stage and impressed the selectors.

After his selection in the Indian team for the upcoming event in the USA, Verma has mentioned that the tournament will be a great learning experience for him.

"It’s a dream come true for me playing in the elite NBA Championship in the USA, where basketball is a prime sport. It’s a great opportunity to learn new skills as we will be playing with some of the best teams in the world,” Verma told TOI.

“We will also get the opportunity to interact with some of the best players in the game, that’s the icing on the cake.”

After representing Hyderabad in Under 14 and Under 16 cricket tournaments, the youngster is now going to play for the national side in basketball. Speaking about his cricketing days with Hyderabad, the class IX student said, “My best show in cricket was an unbeaten century against Andhra in the Under-14 tournament match held at Kottayam in Kerala. And in the Vijay Merchant tournament match, playing against Tamil Nadu I scored 40 runs and picked up three wickets.”

A total of 32 teams from all across the globe will be competing in the Junior NBA tournament in August. The matches will be played in the round-robin and knock-out format and two teams will make it to the finals in the end which will be played on August 11. The Indian players will undergo training in the national capital before travelling to the USA. The youngster wants to prove India’s basketball talent at the top level.

“We want to show the world that we can also compete at the highest level,” Verma signed off.