New Delhi: The Hockey India League auctions will be held over the next three days, with Sunday and Monday reserved for the men’s teams and the women’s auction on Tuesday, with several concerns still remaining on the composition of the league itself.
Nearly 400 domestic and over 150 overseas players have registered in the men’s section, each of the eight teams having a total purse of ₹4cr (₹2cr for women) with players categorised under three base price slabs: ₹2 lakh, ₹5lakh ₹10 lakhs. The auction will also give an idea about the composition of the team staff.
Navoyam Sports Ventures, who initially picked up the Ranchi franchise for men, has apparently pulled out of the league and has been replaced by Team Gonasika, based in Visakhapatnam and headed by Tarini Prasad Mohanty at the last minute with no details yet on the new team. Navoyam, however, has reportedly retained its Odisha women’s team but the two remaining women’s sides are yet to be announced.
The Delhi-based SG Pipers will be led by CEO Mahesh Bhupathi along with Director of Hockey PR Sreejesh, coach Graham Reid and Shivendra Singh. The Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Dragons will have Jose Charles Martin along with Joseph Selvan, Rein Van Eijk and Charles Dixon.
Shrachi Sports’ owned Rarh Bengal Tigers will have Neeraj Thakur and Saurav Sikdar, accompanied by Jugraj Singh, Romesh Pathania, Abhishek Sharma, Deepak Thakur and Adrian Dsouza, being the only team with an all-Indian support group.
Hyderabad Toofans will see Alok Sanghi along with Sidhant Gautam, Siddharth Pandey, Pasha Gademan, Emily Calderon, Sanjay Bir and Robin Arkell while Lucknow’s UP Rudras will have Paul Van Ass, Thomas Tichelman and Cedric D’souza during the auction.
JSW Punjab and Haryana will have Divyanshu Singh, Arjun Halappa, Jeroen Baart, Sardar Singh, Michael Cosma and Srinivas Murthy, Vedanta’s Odisha team represented by Sunil Gupta, Mansi Chauhan, BJ Kariappa, David John and AB Subbaiah.
Published – October 12, 2024 07:50 pm IST
