Dabang Mumbai News

New Delhi, 13 July 2015: With the players auction slated to take place in September, the Hockey India League today confirm that the six existing franchisees have the option to retain up to 3 domestic and 3 international players from their team of 2015.

The franchisees will submit to Hockey India League by 20 July 2015 the confirmation of the players they would like to retain from the squad contracted up to 2015.

Presently the League boasts of six teams with a minimum of 10 international players in each team and 14 domestic players in their squad. Amongst the foreign players already present, World Champions Australia alone had 26 players and the highest number of foreign players in the 2015 League.  The presence of Australian players for the upcoming editions was further strengthened through an agreement between Hockey India and Hockey Australia last year, wherein the latter announced that they would release their players for the League for the coming three years including 2016 (Olympic year).

Speaking on the announcement, Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, Chairman, Hockey India League said “The move is aimed at giving an opportunity to the franchisee to retain the best talent among their existing squad. This way the teams will have a healthy mix of existing good players and young newcomers who will get a chance to learn from the experienced members.” Dr. Batra added, “With the opportunity to retain up to 3 domestic and 3 foreign players, each of the franchises can retain players that are recognized with their team and have a connection to their teams fan base.”

Hockey India League has successfully completed three seasons and is the most sought after tournament among the hockey fraternity world over. The League has witnessed participation of many leading players from teams across the globe.