Hockey India Preps For Player Auction, Which Includes All 16 Olympians

The Hockey India League will have 90 of the country's "best players," including all 16 members of the London Olympics field hockey team, available for next month's player auction, according to PTI. HIL Secretary General and Chair Narinder Batra said that the "creme de la creme of Indian hockey," including the 32 junior players who are receiving a stipend of Rs10,000 ($181) each a month, have signed up for the HIL Players Auction. Olympian Bharat Chetri and PR Sreejesh are among the goalkeepers while Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh are among the 14 fullbacks who have signed for the league. India Co-Captain Sardar Singh leads the list of 25 midfielders while SV Sunil, Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandker and Gurvinder Singh Chandi are among the 41 forwards. Batra said, “We are pleased with the progress of HIL. Sahara India, Jaypee Group and Uniexcel Group have already taken up HIL franchises for Lucknow, Punjab and Ranchi respectively. We will soon announce the remaining three franchises" (PTI, 9/12).