Basketball Pole Crashes on Player

 A young male runs across a rundown basketball court. He isn’t dribbling a ball, but he is running towards the hoop, approaching it sideways, and then, leaping to the hoop as he dunks an imaginary ball, he briefly holds on to it.

It is a familiar routine so many basketballers participate in. But in this video shot at a court in Haryana’s Rohtak district, which has since gone viral, the entire basketball post collapses on the player. The basketballer, a 16-year-old Hardik Rathee, turned out to be national-level player who was practising for an upcoming game in Nepal. He was rushed to the hospital, but was later declared dead.

The video has understandably led to a furore. It also presents a mirror to where things stand. We may boast of our growing sport culture and might even aspire to host the Olympics some day, but the infrastructure in our distant towns and cities is criminally abysmal.