Ranchi will be hosting the maximum Hero Hockey India league (HIl) second edition matches scheduled from January 2014. Apart from five league matches, two semi-final and two final matches are included in this list of HIl.
After inauguration of the game on January 25 at Punjab’s Mohali city where the hockey stadium is newly constructed, the game will be played across six venues of India involving Ranchi, lucknow, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar and New Delhi till February 23.
The first match in Ranchi is scheduled on January 26, said sources.
Besides, the five franchisee teams namely Delhi Waveriders, Ranchi Rhinos, Mumbai Magicians, Punjab Warriors and Uttar Pradesh Wizards which played last season, Kalinga lancers would also be playing this time as the sixth franchisee team.
Pleased with the decision to host maximum matches here, HIl-2 Director Competitions Todd Faulds inspected the Astro Turf Stadium of the state capital on Tuesday morning for about 30 minutes.
While inspecting the venue, there were several black patches found on the turf. “This is a minute problem which can be repaired easily,” said Todd.
The Australia based Competitions Director was at Ranchi for the first time to go through the hosting arrangement related to players, officials and venue. While interacting with The Pioneer, he said, “India seems to have world class hockey players but I would not comment on why few spectators turn up to watch the game. Ranchi specifically is an exciting venue among the other six venues. With England’s midfielder cum forward player Barry Middleton’s joining in Ranchi Rhinos squad, the team is definitely of quality standards.”
However, he felt the need to attract large number of spectators for this national game like cricket. “Hockey India does a lot to promote the game of hockey as a whole but the presence of a large crowd is important,” he said. For Todd, HIl is the only international sports event in India taking the game to all regions.
He began his inspection tour from Mohali. After inspecting lucknow, New Delhi, and Bhubaneshwar venues he was at Ranchi. Todd was accompanied by Hockey India’s officer Michael lal and officials of Hockey Jharkhand during this inspection.