Indian basketball team takes the Saudi road route home

NAGPUR: The Indian men’s basketball team took the 328kms road route from Doha, Qatar, to Dammam in Saudi Arabia to board their return flight home after spending 10 long days in the war zone of the Gulf region.

On Tuesday morning, the 18-member Indian contingent, with American head coach Scott Flemming, landed in Mumbai and Lucknow in two groups.On Sunday, the team started their return journey when they travelled by road from Doha to Dammam, crossing the Salwa border. When flight operations resumed, the BFI and the Indian Embassy in Qatar and Saudi Arabia started the visa process for the Indian contingent.With limited flight availability, the Indian contingent departed in two groups, with one travelling from Dammam via Jeddah to reach Mumbai and the other taking the Dammam-Lucknow direct flight to reach home and ending their 10-day ordeal.