The best of Indian Hockey

The sport of field hockey fills up quite a few pages in the rich and glorifying parts of Indian history. India has time and again produced legendary hockey players for the world to witness. Dhyan Chand is definitely the first name that comes to mind while speaking about legends, he was nick named ‘the wizard’ for his magical performances on the field. With an unbeaten record of more than 400 goals scored in his international hockey carrier. Dhyan Chand is undoubtedly the best hockey player that ever lived. Such was his excellence that it left the opponents doubting whether his stick was made of wood or not? Another fabulous Indian hockey player is none other than Dhanraj Pillay. He is arguably the best forward in world of hockey till date, best known for his dribbling skills. It was said that Dhanraj Pillay was so quick with the ball that he could penetrate any defence line with players considerably younger to him.  The current flock of players also have massive potential and players like Sandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf and Yuvraj Walmiki seem promising.
 

The Indian men’s field hockey team held the title of the best hockey team in the world for a long period of time. It was an era when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics; even today India holds the record of the most successful hockey team in the history of Olympics with 8 gold medals. In the 80s India started to lose grip on the game and is still going through a rough patch. Currently, according to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) ranking system the position of top International Men’s hockey team is held by Australia and in women’s category the title is held by Netherlands, whereas Indian men and women teams are at 8th and 13th position respectively.

When I batted for the Hockey team of Delhi

It was when the final score line read in favour of the hockey team I am crazy like hell about that I felt my breath back. And it was just as much as I had expected, having cheered the hockey team of Delhi every step of the way through to the final destination. Of course, it had to do with the love for the game, Delhi, and a name tied to it--John of course! 
 

I have always been the one for close finishes and what more than result by penalty. It’s the ultimate thing for every hockey team to come up trumps in a match that hangs by a thread. And when it’s the title match, I guess even John would agree. His making a dash for the players at the final whistle bears it out for me.
 

It may sound insanely paradoxical, but I failed to pick up even a thing or two about the crowd there. Except the only way to vent to match their decibels was to vent my lungs out!  Which I did all the time! The one thing I was no match for is stripes—hardly a face I can think of (except a bum like me) was not striped. That serves me a fan lesson and would help me save some of the ‘out of the league’ looks the next time.
 

Credit must also go to the Punjab team for putting up what can only be called a show of skills and efforts, but they met their match on the day. Big cheers for the hockey team of Delhi for making us all live the moment, and everybody who played a part in the Hockey India League bringing clamour back at the centre stage. That includes John by the way!!

Indian Hockey Player: Playing and Performing to the Expectations

Summary:
Young Indian hockey players have got a golden opportunity to play in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators and make a name for themselves.

Hockey fans do not stop believing and the success of Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) is another shining example of it. The tournament has proved everyone wrong who thought it would not be able to attract audiences back to the stadium. Young Indian hockey players could not have asked for a bigger or better opportunity. They’ve got the right platform to show their skills to both the selection committee and spectators.
 

Hockey team Delhi has included some of the brightest young players to have the right balance. These players have got a dream debut by playing alongside the most popular hockey players in the world. These kinds of game would definitely prepare them to play and perform in big matches. It would help them to cope with the mental and physical pressure and strengthen them to compete at the top level.
 

Nurturing and Preparing Indian Hockey Players
 

There have been a plenty of positives to take from the recently concluded tournament. The nation has got its next batch of players who would represent it at the international level. It has also brought optimism among players playing at the school and state level. They can draw courage and inspiration from these players and keep on performing for respective teams. It would strengthen their belief in 

the system.
 

Hockey Team Delhi and the Future of Club Hockey
 

The club-based hockey culture is new in the country. It is a proven model in other parts of the world. Several other sports like football have been following it quite successfully. Hockey fans showed their love and commitment by booking seats for the second season in advance. They’re waiting for an opportunity to show it and HHIL gave them the platform to support their teams and players. They want to see the national hockey team sitting at the top of ranking table.

Hockey Team: About the Hockey Team of Delhi

Summary
Delhi Waveriders is a hockey team that represents Delhi. They have always showcased the best performance during HHIL.
 

Delhi Waveriders is the hockey team of Delhi that takes part in the Hockey India League. This team is really a strong one with talented and excellent players in it. This is a team that is owned by the wave group. The owners of the team spent highest amount on the player by paying 42.5 lakhs on Sardara Sigh during the time of auction. Sardara Singh is the highest paid player from India for HHIL. He was also made the captain of the team and this has made the team really much powerful. This team has Ajay Kumar – Bansal as its coach and also Ajit Pal – Singh as the chief advisor and he is the one who was once the captain of Indian team.
 

Ownership
 

The hockey team is owned by wave group which is a popular business group of India. The business group has its imprint in diverse niches of business that include the paper manufacturing, sugar manufacturing, distilleries, multiplexes, real estate and retail management. This business group has a legacy of over 40 years. The founder of the wave group is Kulwant Singh Chadha. The group is now integrated by his three sons along with his grandson. The company started its journey from the sugar crusher and has spread over many different areas. The team is also co- owned by the Bollywood actor John Abraham. He has 13 percentage of share on the team.
 

Team Members
 

The hockey team of Delhi is strong due to the amazing players that it has got. Wave riders have three goalkeepers in the team who all are much experienced and also skilled in playing excellent game. Nicolas Jacobi, Gurpreet Singh Guri, and Hamish McGregor are the excellent goal keepers of the team. There are nine forwards, 6 mid fielders and four defenders in the team.
 

Performance of the Team
 

This is a hockey team that has shown its performance in a regular manner during the different seasons of HIL. The team has always been a great opponent for other teams who play in HIL. During the 2013 HIL, the team played a total of 14 matches and have lost only 2 matches and 2 became a draw. The performance from the team was not different in 2014 also as they won 8 matches out of the 11 matches that they have played.

The revival of Indian Hockey

Hockey in India had gone through various phases. From the single dominant country prior to the 1950s, India went almost out of the picture in the early years of this millennium. The last decade marked the ultimate lows of the sport marked by incidents such as protests of the Indian Hockey Players against the board, failing to even qualify for the Olympics, open fight between two organizations, the Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India, to have the control over the sport and ultimately leading to the International Olympic committee’s intervention. But things might be on the verge of changing. As the Hockey India took over the responsibility of governing the sport, it quickly sprang into action, setting up the IPL-style Hockey India League (HIL).
 

Though there were previous attempts to organize a franchisee hockey league in India (even before the success of IPL) such as the ESPN Star-IHF owned Premier Hockey League (PHL) and the Nimbus-IHF owned World Series Hockey (WSH), the Hockey India League quickly grabbed attention with its success of finding corporate sponsorship with the likes of Star Sports India, Hero Honda and many others.
 

Taking cue from the success of IPL, the teams and the players were auctioned. To everyone’s surprise, it was the not the foreign players who earned more, but the Indian Hockey player, Sardar Singh sold for $78000 to the hockey team Delhi Waveriders. The inaugural season in 2013 drew moderate crowds and not much fanfare, the crowds and revenues were on the rise for the 2014 season which is presently underway.
 

With the addition of Bhubaneswar based Kalinga Warriors this season, the total teams competing for the championship has risen up to 6. Though the defending champions Ranchi Rhinos are still very much in the hunt for the cup, it is the Waves-group owned Hockey team Delhi Waveriders, who are favorites to win the cup this year after missing out in the finals of last season.
 

But not all is good with Hockey India League. One major disappointing factor is that all the franchisees are concentrated on the Northern part of India. The southernmost franchisee itself is Bhubaneswar. Though the fact remains that the city teams of Chennai and Bangalore were originally planned, but went unsold in the auction, it is the responsibility of the Hockey India to take the sport to all corners of the country. The Hockey India League may not have been a huge success as its cricketing counterpart, but if managed properly, it could make Hockey a mainstream sport again in this country.
 

Summary: Hockey, the ancient sport that was a part and parcel of India has stood up and taken a rebirth with complete governance by IHF and corporate sponsorship with increase in drive to HIL.