All You Want to Know About Revived Hockey India League

Hockey India League is being revived after a hiatus of seven years – the league was run for five years (2013-2017) before it was closed down – Kalinga Lancers are the defending champions (having won the last edition in 2017)
4 Franchises – UP Rudras, Tamil Nadu Dragons, Hyderabad Toofans, and Vedanta Kalinga Lancers have the most foreign players from the same country – UP Rudras features the Dutch trio of Lars Balk,, Floris Wortelboer , and Seve van Ass, while Tamil Nadu Dragons features the Kookaburras trio of Blake Govers, Tom Craig and Nathan Ephraum. Hyderabad Toofans features the Aussie trio of Timothy Daniel, Matthew Dawson and Timothy Howard. Vedanta Kalinga Lancers have in its ranks the Belgium defending trio of Alexander Hendrickx, Antoine Kina, and Arthur van Doren
Ranchi Rhinos won the inaugural Hockey India League in 2013 – the Ranchi outfit have won the HIL on most occasions – twice (as Ranchi Rays in 2015) with Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, and Kalinga Lancers winning the crown once each
The revived 6th edition of the Hockey India League would be held from December 28th to February 5th – it is planned to be held during this time window for the next five years
Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh is the richest players of the men’s auction – he was bought for Rs 78 lakhs by Soorma Hockey Club owned by JSW Sports
The men’s Hockey India League would comprise eight teams, while the women’s Hockey India League would consist of four teams
Indian and Punjab National Bank duo of Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh would play together for Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers
Argentinian defender and drag-flicker Gonzallo Peillat, who nows plays for Germany, is the richest foreign player of the men’s auction – he was bought for Rs 68 lakhs by Hyderabad Toofans
The men’s matches would be played at Rourkela, while the women’s matches would be played at Ranchi
Vedanta Kalinga Lancers have in their ranks one of the world’s best forwards and one of the world’s best drag-flickers in Thierry Brinkman and Alexander Hendrickxx
Lee Mortan is the lone player from Scotland to be part of the HIL – he would turn out for Team Gonasika
The cash prizes for the winners, runners-up, and third-placed among others are yet to be announced
The revived Hockey India League unlike the home-and-away concept in the first five editions, would be played at two venues – Rourkela and Ranchi – two hockey hotbeds in the eastern part of the country
Celebrated Australian men’s hockey team coach, Colin Batch who retired after the 2024 Paris Olympics, is the Chief Coach of Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers
Netherlands Olympic gold-winning women’s team coach Paul Van Ass is the Chief Coach of UP Rudras
Franchise buying the least number of foreign players – 5 Soorma Hockey Club
Retired Dutch forward and Rotterdam player Jeroen Hertzberger would lay for Team Gonasika
David Harte is the lone player from Ireland to be bought in the HIL auctions – he was snapped up for Rs 32 lakhs by Tamil Nadu Dragons
Germany captain Mat Grambusch and Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter were the biggest players to go unsold
UP Rudras is the only franchise to have a father-son combo as coach and player – Paul Van Ass as Chief Coach and his son Seve Van Ass as player
The Hockey India League men’s final will be played on February 1 at Rourkela, while the Hockey India League women’s final will be held on January 26 at Ranchi
Netherlands have maximum foreign representation with as many as 10 players bought in the HIL auction – Duco Telgenkamp (Tamil Nadu Dragons), Jip Janssen (Tamil Nadu Dragons), Lars Balk (UP Rudras), Floris Wortelboer (UP Rudras), Seve van Ass (UP Rudras), Pirmin Blaak (Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers) Thierry Brinkman (Vedanta Kalinga Lancers), Terrence Pieters (Hyderabad Toofans), Jorrit Croon (Delhi SG Pipers), Jeroen Hertzberger (Team Gonasika)
Former Australian forward and ex- Jaypee Punjab Warriors player, Glenn Turner is the Chief Coach of Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers women’s team
Abhishek Nain and Hardik Singh emerged as the second and third most-richest of the HIL auction – bought for Rs 72 lakhs and Rs 70 lakhs respectively by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers and UP Rudras
Former Indian goalkeeper Jude Menezes, also a former New Zealand eves coach, and current Japan women’s team coach, is the chief coach of the Soorma Hockey Club
Former Indian midfielder Devinder Walmiki, who has played in the Dutch club for HGM, would play for Hyderabad Toofans
HIL features teams from the North, East and South but the Western part of the country remains unrepresented with no teams from pockets like Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, etc
Netherlands’ Jeroen Hertzberger is the oldest player of the 6th HIL – the 38-year-old would play for Team Gonasika
Out-of-favour Indian forwards Akashdeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh would forge a lethal combo upfront for UP Riders
Star Netherlands defender and drag-flicker Jip Janssen would play for Tamil Nadu Dragons
FIH has created a separate window between December 28 and February 5 – it means no international tournaments or matches would be held during this period
Dutchman and former Canada men’s team coach Pasha Gademan is the Chief Coach of Hyderabad Toofans
Indian forward-turned-defender Udita is the richest women’s player – she was bought by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers for Rs 32 lakhs
Ireland’s David Harte & India’s Krishan Bahadur Pathak are the richest goalkeepers of the HIL auction – both roped in by Tamil Nadu and Vedanta Kalinga Lancers
Every franchise would pay Hockey India Rs 10 crore as team fees every year
Vedanta Limited has acquired Kalinga Lancers (erstwhile Odisha franchise) – it was previously co-owned by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL)
Soorma Hockey Club – owned by JSW Sports – is spearheaded by Olympian and Asian Games silver medallist Manish Malhotra
Dayaan Cassiem is the only South African player to be part of the HIL – he would play for Soorma Hockey Club
Franchises that exhausted their quote of 8 foreign players – Tamil Nadu Dragon, Delhi SG Pipers, and Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers
Punjab franchise – Soorma Hockey Club – have two potent drag-flickers – Harmanpreet Singh and Jeremy Hayward
Olympian and tennis icon Mahesh Bhupathi-led SG Sports owns the Delhi men’s and women teams
Former Indian men’s captain Sardar Singh is the coach of Soorma Hockey Club men’s team
Netherlands fullback and drag-flicker Yibbi Jansen is the richest women’s foreign player – she was bought for Rs 29 lakhs by Odisha Warriors
Young and talented drag-flicking forward Araijeet Singh Hundal sprang a pleasant surprise – he was bought for Rs 42 lakhs by Team Gonasika
Shrachi Sports and SG Sports are the only two franchises to own both men and women teams of the same region
SG Sports and JSW Sports are only two hockey franchises to be backed by former Olympians
It is estimated that Rs 3,640 crore will be spent on the HIL over the next 10 years, with Hockey India expected to invest Rs 112 crore each year
Former Indian men’s team coach Graham Reid is the Chief Coach of Delhi SG Pipers
3 Players from Great Britain would be part of the 6th HIL – Ollie Payne and Jack Waller for Team Gonasika), while Zach Wallace would play for Hyderabad Toofans
10 Belgium players in the HIL – Vedanta Kalinga Lancers have the defending triumvirate of Alexander Hendrickx, Antoine Kina, and Arthur van Doren
Former Indian player Pardeep Mor, who recently featured in the Melbourne Hockey Cup for Adelaide Sikhs, would turn out for Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers
Tom Boon – one of top drag-flicking forwards in the world – would play for Team Gonasika – at a price tag of Rs 26 lakhs, he surely deserved more
Prolific Argentinian striker Tomas Domene would be wearing the Delhi SP Pipers jersey
Australia’s star forward and drag-flicker Blake Govers would be wearing the Tamil Nadu Dragons jersey