New season, old script: Fringe players will use Hockey India League to revive their career

Starting today, when Ranchi – now co-owned by India cricket captain MS Dhoni and rechristened as Rays – take on last year’s wooden-spooners Kalinga Lancers, Mandeep will hope to deliver on the early promise he showed. Like him, several other discards will be looking to make their way back into the national squad while the youngsters too will be keen to impress as India prepare to build a team for next year’s Rio Olympics.

In two years, HIL has upstaged the national championships and other major domestic tournaments to become the key tournaments where talents are spotted and blooded into the national team set-up. The month-long tournament has acted as a springboard for several fledgling players and at the same time, has revived careers of many others.

If Mandeep was the find of the inaugural season, the following edition last year saw the rebirth of sorts of Gurbaj Singh. Ignored since India’s dismal performance at the London Olympics, Gurbaj’s tireless effort on the right flank earned him praise and was immediately drafted into the national squad. He can only grown in stature since, making the right-half position his.

Fight for spots

Apart from Mandeep, the likes of Yuvraj and Devinder Walmiki, Adrian D’Souza, Sandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Chinglensana Singh, Vikas Pillay and Ramandeep Singh will be keen to make their presence felt while young goalkeepers Harjot Singh and Sushant Tirkey too will be keen to show they’ve matured enough to share burden with PR Sreejesh. Add to that the fact that the new Indian coach will most likely be appointed during the HIL, and will scout for fresh faces, the fight for the spots will only get intense.

While some of these players have been impressive in past editions of the HIL, they have struggled to replicate the form with the national team. One of the key reasons for such contrasting form – especially among strikers – has been the difference in the quality of midfield. In HIL, the foreign players with top-quality play-making abilities have at times made the Indian players look better.

It was evident in Mandeep’s case. With Ranchi, he was supported by the likes of former world player of the year Fuerste and Englishman Ashley Jackson. However, in absence of similar assistance with India, he struggled to replicate his form. “When you have some of the best players from the world playing in the midfield, they will feed you ball exactly where you need it. As a striker, it makes our job easy,” said Yuvraj, who scored crucial goals for Delhi last season.

India’s High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans, who will double up as the coach of Uttar Pradesh Wizards over the next four weeks of HIL, insists the tournament is a perfect opportunity for the players who’ve been on the fringes of the national team to stake a claim for regular spots.

India’s first international assignment of the year is likely to be the Azlan Shah Cup in April following which they will either take part in a tournament or a test series every second month. “As a coach of Wizards, I can keep a close eye on my players and at the same time, I will also monitor the players of my rival teams. Those who perform good will automatically be considered for the upcoming camps before we begin our long season ahead,” Oltmans added.