Defending champions Ranchi Rays are gearing up to play against the Delhi Waveriders on the Republic Day at the Birsa Munda AstroTurf Hockey Stadium for the Coal India’s fourth edition of Hockey India league 2016.
Ranchi Rays, team partly owned by the Indian One Day Cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni reached the capital city on Saturday evening as the players have been hosted at the Hotel Park Prime in Morhabadi.
The team was welcomed by the Jharkhand Hockey officials and the Ranchi rays’ management staff at the Birsa Munda International Airport. Ranchi Rays have played two matches in the league till now and has won one.
Dhoni’s hockey boys are busy gearing up for rehearsal matches at the AstroTurf stadium here on Sunday evening. All eyes are stuck on the action-packed match against the Delhi Waveriders on January 26 at 6 p.m.
The team is also scheduled to play another set of seven matches at Ranchi, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar and New Delhi.
Ranchi Rays opened their campaign against last year’s runners-up Jaypee Punjab Warriors in Chandigarh on January 19. Jake Whetton scored in the second minute to help Punjab Warriors beat defending champions Ranchi Rays 2-0 in Chandigarh. On the other hand, Ranchi Rays beat Uttar Pradesh 9-8 through penalty shootouts in a neck-neck competition making the victory quite thrilling at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in lucknow on January 22. Wizards’ V.R. Raghunath (34th minute) and Rays’ Ashley Jackson (41st) scored but both teams refused to be separated after 60 minutes of play, taking the game to penalties.
Meanwhile, Delhi Waveriders arrived in the city on Sunday evening and would start rehearsal matches beginning Monday morning. The team has maintained their winning streak and defeated Uttar Pradesh Wizards 3-1 to move to the top of the points table with 10 points from the last two games played in the league in lucknow on Saturday.
The Champions league has already begun with six thrilling matches already played between the six franchises battling for the winning title in the world’s biggest field hockey league starting from January 18 in Bhubaneswar. Ranchi, the hockey-crazy capital is all set to host the semi-finals and final on February 20 and 21 for the third time in four years, including nine matches in total.
The six franchises are Chandigarh-based Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Delhi Waveriders, Kalinga lancers, lucknow-based Uttar
Pradesh Wizards, Dabang Mumbai and defending champions Ranchi Rays.