The much-awaited Hockey India league (HIl) is set to take the nation by storm with the six-franchise format set to start from Monday.
This season the league will throw up new challenges for players, teams owners and the organisers. The players, especially, will be looking to make the most of the tournament before the Rio Olympics in August.
To add to it, fresh auctions were held last year which means new team combinations for the first time and it remains to be seen how the players adjust with new franchises under new coaching staff.
The opening match of the fourth edition will see Kalinga lancers take on Uttar Pradesh Wizards at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
lancers do not need to look beyond their captain and Germany’s midfield talisman Moritz Furste for motivation and to spearhead them to a perfect start. Furste went for a whopping $105,000 at the auction.
Furste, who was part of Germany’s Olympic gold medal-winning squads in 2008 and 2012, feels the upcoming HIl has more significance since it is taking place in an Olympic year.
“This is a perfect beginning to the Olympic year as we get to play against the best players. I missed the last season hence I was very keen to be a part of this year’s Hockey India league,” Furste said during the trophy unveiling ceremony.
“Moreover, at this time of the year, only indoor hockey is played in Germany due to (cold) weather. So, it will be great to play field hockey here in 30 degrees. This will give me more opportunities for building up to the [Rio] Olympics.”
His opposite number on the opening day, VR Raghunath, captain of Uttar Pradesh Wizards feels the opening week is the pivotal one for the league which runs till February 21.
“First week is the most important week for all the teams. We have so many new players in the team and it is important that we all get along with each other so that we can play well in the field out there. I think this edition will be all team effort so I think whichever team will have good bonding can go all the way through,” he said.
On Olympics, he added: “Yes, it is very important one as Olympics is this year and we want to be very careful in not getting hurt. We have to play competitive yet safe game. HIl will be like warm-up tournament in our preparations to Rio Olympics.”
Both Wizards and lancers will have new coaches. While lancers replaced Jude Felix with Australian Mark Hager, the Wizards will be coached by Roger van Gent in place of Roelant Oltmans, who opted out from the post to avoid conflict of interest as he is also the High Performance Director of Indian hockey as well the chief coach of the national men’s team.
‘Combination is key’
Indian national team captain Sardar Singh is looking for a good combination between Indian and foreign players in the Jaypee Punjab Warriors team.
“Our camp started in Chandigarh from the 9th of January. The foreign players arrived on Tuesday (12th Jan). Now we’re training together,” he said.
When asked if the time for preparation is less, he replied, “It depends on the team structure. We have quite a few Australian players so you can combine well in a short time. What is important is to do well with the combination work. Good players can gel quickly together.”
Sardar made the headlines after being released by Delhi Waveriders last year following three seasons with the capital side.
In the HIl 2016 auction, Sardar was bought by the Warriors for only $58,000, which turned out to be $20,000 lesser than the amount Delhi paid for him in 2012.
On his move he said: “I was late in agreeing to a contract with Delhi Waveriders. I have had good relations with them so there wasn’t much deliberation required anyway. But by the time I said yes to being a part of the team again, the date had passed for retaining players and I was put into the auction.”
“There I fetched a low figure. Sure it did hurt a little but for me at this moment, the performance of India and mine matters more than the money I get. After the auction, there were some former India players who questioned my role into their sides so this will be a motivation factor to prove them wrong.”
As soon as the league gets over, there is only one thing in the mind of the Indian captain — 2016 Olympics. Sardar is undoubtedly confident of the nation’s chance in Rio.
“In the last two years, we’ve beaten the top teams in the world. So it is expected for the big teams to fear us. But we don’t have to get complacent. Keeping in mind top teams like Australia and the Netherlands, we have to stay mentally strong because their performances stay at the highest level for any tournament. So equally, we have to maintain our level and stay consistent,” he explained.
Meanwhile, defending champions Ranchi Rays captain, Ashley Jackson is equally excited about the tournament. “We are excited to enter the field as the defending champions,” he said.
However, Jackson is not getting carried away as he knows earlier achievements will not help them much this time if they cannot maintain the same level.
“You are only as good as the last one. If we lose the first game we will be bottom. Irrespective of it pressure will also be there always,” he explained.
Ranchi Rays won the two of three HIl editions and will look to continue the run. “I am happy we won it. We want to keep that continuing. To make it three out of four will be awesome,” he added.
Jackson agrees that retaining the core of the team during the auctions is also a reason for their success so far.
“We had six and seven guys started and stayed in Ranchi and that is great the core has remained,” he added.
With Olympics set to take place this year, Jackson is looking for nothing less than a gold medal with Great Britain squad. “We just don’t wan to go to Olympics, we want to win it,” he added.
This time Delhi Waveriders — the winners of the second edition of HIl — have to cope without their star player Sardar, who moved to Warriors. But, Delhi’s captain Simon Child does not think the move will affect the team much.
“It won’t affect our team much. He is obviously a very good player and we will miss him. But there are other senior players. It will be different with out him, but we will be fine,” he explained.
On Olympics, Child feels a level of consistency is required to do well and he finds his New Zealand team members are working hard to succeed. “We are doing the hard work to do well. It’s the team that performs on day will do well,” he added.
He also feels Indian hockey side will improve on their disastrous last place (12th) finish in 2012 Olympics, this time around.
“They are strong team. HIl has helped a lot; it has given youngsters a chance. They (India) can beat any team on a given day,” he added.
Dabang Mumbai captain, NikkinThimmaiah said his team started training for the league earlier this month.
“The boys are working really hard and are in pretty good shape,” he explained.
Nikkin feels the opportunity to play with foreign players will also help them to understand other teams strategies in the Rio Olympics.
“We have lots to learn from how other countries play. What skill the players use and how it helps,” he added.
Also the 2016 HIl have beefed up cash awards for teams and players, totaling up to a whopping Rs 5.7 crore. Thus giving the players a lot of incentive to fight in the field when the league kickstarts from Monday.