All 16 members of the Indian team, which competed in the Olympic Games in London earlier this year, are among the 90 domestic players who have signed up for the Hockey India League Players Auction to be held next month in the run up to the prestigious six-team Hockey India League in January 2013.
Hockey India Secretary-General and HIL Chairman Dr Narinder Batra today said the cream of Indian hockey, including the 32 junior players who are receiving a stipend of Rs 10,000 a month, have signed up for the HIL Players Auction. “We are delighted that the top Indian players will be able to rub shoulders with the world’s best during the Hockey India League,” he said.
Bharat Chetri, who led India in the Olympics, and PR Sreejesh are among the goal-keepers while drag-flick exponents Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh are among the 14 backs. India vice-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.
“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 franchisees. We have released a list of 14 Pakistan players who have agreed to be a part of the HIL Players’ Auction and will soon announce players from other top hockey playing nations,” Dr. Batra said.
“We are confident that Hockey India League will succeed in capturing the imagination of the sports lovers in India and overseas. The fact that FIH (International Hockey Federation) has earmarked a window for the League shows its importance. It has evoked enormous interest among players and coaches and promises to be a one-of-a-kind event.”
Goalkeepers:
Bharat Chetri
PR Sreejesh
P Thirumala Rao
Nanak Singh
Keerthi Mallesh Gowda
Keshav Dutt
Sushant Tirkey
Naveen Kumar
Subodh Tirkey
Phirembam Bisham Singh
Defenders:
VR Raghunath
Rupinder Pal Singh
Sandeep Singh
Harbir Singh
Rahul Shilpkar
Chandan Singh
Gaganpreet Singh
Sukhmanjit Singh
Hans Raj
Gagandeep Singh
Amit Rohidas
Sampath Kumar Maylaram
Sumit Topno
Vikramjit Singh
Midfielders:
Sardar Singh
Gurbaj Singh
Danish Mujtaba
Birendra Lakra Jr.
Ignace Tirkey
Manpreet Singh
K Kothajit Singh
Bipin Kishor Kerketta
MB Aiyappa
Pradeep Mor
M Gunasekar
Amit Kumar Malik
Captain Singh
Jatinder Singh
Manish Bishnoi
Jarmanpreet Singh
Baljit Singh
Surender Kumar
Harjeet Singh
Rocky Lohchab
Suresh Toppo
Saroj Barla
Gurinder Singh
Nilakanta Sharma
Vikas Choudhary
Forwards:
SV Sunil
Tushar Khandker
Shivendra Singh
Dharamvir Singh
Gurvinder Singh Chandi
SK Uthappa
Sarvanjit Singh
Nitin Thimmaiah
Pradhan Somanna
Chinglensana Singh
Prabhdeep Singh
Akashdeep Singh
Prabhjot Singh
Yuvraj Valmiki
Gurmail Singh
Ranjit Singh
Dilbag Singh
Mohit Singh Thakur
Naveen Antil
Talwinder Singh
Tarandeep Singh
Amon Mirash Tirkey
Parvinder Singh
Vinit Kamble
Vikas Choudhary
Stanli Victor Minz
Anup Valmiki
PL Thimmanna
Sukhdev Singh
Mandeep Singh
Malik Singh
Satbir Singh
Harsahib Singh
Vijay Thapa Amon
Lowrence
Munish Rana
Siddharth Shanker
Kiran Kumar Thockchom
KD Bidappa
Mikhail Barla
Arvind Kujur