So, the teams were set. Samuel had an all-men team. Even if that was the case, he really wanted Shivani on his team as well, since he had seen her play and she was better than a few of his members. However, he wasn't that sad because the ones on his side were experienced playing alongside each other for many competitions.
And compared to this, Taro's team was a sham. It relied on individual prowess than the team. Such a team was bound to fail. He knew how good Shivani and Juan were, but Abhirami, Sujatha and Taro in particular were useless in his eyes. He knew how Sujatha and Abhirami were good at other sports, but basketball sure wasn't one.
Juan and Samuel were on the front to grab hold of the ball when the referee Thankappan threw the ball up in the air. Taro's decision to not be the one in place of Juan not only made sense to Thankappan, who didn't want Taro to shine too much, but also to the ones on the sidelines since they knew how good Juan was.