Hockey India League

Introduction 

Popularly known as the Coal India Hockey India League, this tournament was established in 2013. It was held in India and organized by the governing body, Hockey India. The Hockey India League was considered one of the major sports leagues in the country, just like the Pro Kabaddi League, and Indian Premier League.

It is a league of six teams, wherein each team plays 10 matches throughout the season which lasts from January to February. The top four teams move into the playoffs. Finally, the championship game is played which decides the winner of the Hockey India League.

HIL was an attempt to get an International Hockey Federation-sanctioned league after the World Series Hockey began in 2012. The Hockey India League was a huge financial success that generated profits for the federation through television revenue and league revenue. The last tournament was played in 2017, in which Kalinga Lancers, emerged as the winner.

Table Of Contents

• Details 

• History

• Theme

• Registrations

• Winners

• Conclusion 

Details 

History

In the year 2012, there was a collaboration between Nimbus and the Indian Hockey Federation, which was a successful endeavor that promoted a professional field hockey league in India.

It was after this, and also the success of the Cricket Indian Premiere League, that Hockey India formed its own franchise-based league, in mid-2012, which was duly approved by the International Hockey Federation. The league was fundamentally planned with six teams, however, it commenced in 2013 with only five teams, as the sixth team showed low interest.

These five teams were Punjab Warriors, Delhi Waveriders, Ranchi Rhinos, Mumbai Magicians, and Uttar Pradesh Wizards. ESPN STAR Sports was the official broadcasting partner of the league for 5 years. The league was a huge success in the inaugural year and also immediately in the years following the season. There were a few changes made to the teams, during different seasons.

In the second season of HIL, Kalinga Lancers joined as the sixth team. After the success of 2014, seasons, Mumbai Magicians disbanded and were replaced with Dabang Mumbai just before the 2015 season. In the same year, Ranchi Rhinos, who were also the inaugural champions were swiftly replaced with Ranchi Rays due to some internal issues.

In 2018 the HIL got postponed and was announced to be held in November - December 2019. However, there hasn’t been any season after that. 2017, witnessed the last season of the Hockey India League

Theme

The sponsor of the tournament from 2013 to 2015 was India Hero, and it was called the Hero Hockey India League during that period.

From 2015 – 2017, the tournament was named as Coal India Hockey India League, as the sponsorship came from Coal India.        

Here are the details of the six primary teams that participate in the Hockey India League.

1. Dabang Mumbai, since  2015, with Jay Stacy as their head coach

2. Delhi Waveriders, since 2013, with Cedric D'Souza as their head coach

3. Kalinga Lancers, since 2014, with Mark Hager, as their head coach

4. Punjab Warriors, since 2013, with head coach Barry Dancer

5. Ranchi Rays, since 2015, with the head coach, Harendra Singh

6. Uttar Pradesh Wizards, since 2013, with Roger Van Gent, as their head coach

The winning team was awarded Rs. 3 crores and the losing team got Rs. 1.5 crores. 

Registrations

The winning team is decided based on the number of matches won by each team. If there is a tie, then extra time would be given in the match. If there is still a tie, then there will be a shoot-out. If the match still remains undecided then the winner will be decided based on penalty strokes.

Steve Catton was appointed as the competition director, and Barry Anderson was appointed as the tournament director, by Hockey India, even before the inauguration of the first season. The prestigious members of the Hockey India League board included Rajeev Shukla, who was the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Arun Jaitley who was the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, and Rajat Sharma, a famous media personality. Todd Faulds was appointed as the competition director for the second edition of the Hockey India League.

He had a similar experience at Melbourne’s FIH 2012 Men's Champions Trophy and Perth’s 2012 International Super Series. The tournament director in 2014, was Bjorn Isberg who had a similar experience in the 2012 London Olympics field hockey tournament, and the 2004, 2007, & 2011 Champions Trophy tournaments.

Winners 

The Winners of the Hockey India League were:

2013 Hero Hockey India League - 14 January to 10 February 2013 

The first match of the Hockey India League was played on 14 January 2013. The Delhi Waveriders were defeated in the final match by Ranchi Rhinos ( 2 – 1 ), who became the first champion of the tournament on 10 February 2013.

• Player of the Tournament - Sardar Singh (Delhi Waveriders)          

• Upcoming player of the tournament - Mandeep Singh (Ranchi Rhinos)

• Most goals in league phase - Delhi Waveriders (37 in 12 matches)

• Fair play - Ranchi Rhinos

The Leading Goal-scorers were:

• Sandeep Singh, Mumbai Magicians – 11 goals in 12 matches

• Mandeep Singh, Ranchi Rhinos – 10 goals in 13 matches

• R. Raghunath, Uttar Pradesh Wizards – 9 goals in 14 matches

• Rupinder Pal Singh, Delhi Wave Riders – 7 goals in 14 matches

• Lloyd Norris-Jones, Delhi Wave Riders – 6 goals in 14 matches

2014 Hockey India League - 25 January 2014 - 23 February 2014

On 23 February 2014, Delhi Waveriders beat Punjab Warriors with a penalty win of 3 – 1

• Most Valuable Player - Jaap Stockmann, (Punjab Warriors)     

• Most Prominent Player - Akashdeep Singh, (Delhi Waveriders)

• Highest Goal Scorer Team - Punjab Warriors, (40 in 12 matches)

Leading Goal Scorers

• Sandeep Singh, Punjab Warriors - 11

• Gonzalo Peillat, Kalinga Lancers - 8

• R. Raghunath, Uttar Pradesh Wizards - 4

• Glenn Turner, Mumbai Magicians - 7

• Rupinder Pal Singh, Delhi Waveriders - 6

2015 Hero Hockey India League - 22 January 2015 with the final on 22 February 2015

The prize money was announced to be Rs. 2.5 Crores. Ranchi Rays beat Punjab Warriors in the final and became the new champions with a penalty win of 3 – 2

2016 Hero Hockey India League - 18 January 2016 with the final on  21 February 2016

Punjab Warriors beat Kalinga Lancers with a 6 - 1 score

• Player of the Tournament - Rupinder Pal Singh, (Delhi Waveriders)   

• Maximum Goals - Glenn Turner, (Kalinga Lancers)     

• Upcoming Player of the Tournament - Sumit Kumar, (Ranchi Rays)

2017 Hero Hockey India League - 21 January to 26 February 2017

Kalinga Lancers beat Dabang Mumbai 4–1 in the final to win their first title. Kalinga Lancers' Glenn Turner and Moritz Fürste finished as the tournament's joint top scorers with 12 goals each.

Dabang Mumbai's Florian Fuchs was named the Player of the Tournament

• Player of the Tournament - Florian Fuchs, (Dabang Mumbai)

• Highest goalscorer - Glenn Turner and Moritz Fürste, (Kalinga Lancers) (12 goals)

• Most saves - P. R. Shreejesh, (Uttar Pradesh Wizards)

• Upcoming Player of the Tournament - Harmanpreet Singh, (Dabang Mumbai)

• Achiever of the Tournament - Florian Fuchs, (Dabang Mumbai)          

• Fairplay Trophy - Kalinga Lancers

Conclusion 

After the 2017 Hockey India League tournament, the franchises faced issues regarding dates and finances. It got postponed till 2020.

However, due to the pandemic, there was a long gap, after which HIL never revived again. Fans of this successful league in India are still hoping to see a powerplay round of HIL soon. There are thus chances that HIL may be revived soon!