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Hockey India League 2015 turned out to be the most fiercely contested tournaments. Every team had their moments of gloom and glory with equal footing in terms of their relative performances. Ranchi did an encore & were the deserved champions whereas Punjab missed the bus again.Last year’s Champions Delhi salvaged some pride with a third place finish. On the other hand, U.P. choked again at the penultimate hurdle. Kalinga were a much improved unit compared to last year & Dabang Mumbai promised a lot for future with some gutsy performances.Here we take a look at five things which we learned from this year’s Hockey India League:
#5 Kalinga Lancers and Dabang Mumbai need to improve for the next season
Kalinga Lancers and the newly rechristened Mumbai both finished in the bottom half of the table again and will need to get their act together in the next season.
Lancers despite off to a flying start with an impressive 6-3 win over the eventual champions Ranchi, fizzled out later and were again lacking the killer instinct. Their strikers were wasteful upfront and defense equally clueless at the back. Players like Gurjinder, Antil did show some flashes of brilliance, but still need to refine their game further.
Similarly, much was expected from Dabang Mumbai specially after their huge spending in the auction, but nothing substantial materialized for them. Although they did put out some spunky performances but it was far and few. Tom Boon, their star forward had a dull outing and will need to prove his worth in the new season.
#4 Indian hockey is growing by leaps and bounds
The advent of Hockey India League and the much needed financial support from the corporates has resurrected the game of hockey in India. New astro-turf pitches,improvement in grass-roots level training and exposure of playing along the best in HIL has led to the overall development of the game.
Seeing players like Nikkin Thimmaiah, Ramandeep Singh bamboozle international defenders reinforces the fact that Indian Hockey is indeed heading in the right direction. Young players from the hinterlands are gaining invaluable experience by sharing the dressing room with the veterans and learning the tricks of the trade. Every budding player knows how to prepare themselves for a big game. It was evident in HIL with young Indian players playing according to team strategy and basics of the modern hockey.
#3 Young guns of India ready for the big stage
The famous maxim, “ If you are good enough, you are old enough” holds true for the current crop of youngsters in Indian hockey. All the young guns performed superbly for their respective franchises whenever called to action.
Players like Akashdeep for Delhi, Affan for Punjab, Mandeep for Ranchi had some game changing impact for their team and were head and shoulders above the rest despite of their light experience.
For instance, U.P. Wizards completely rode on the brilliance of their young blood and Dabang Mumbai had to completely rely on the 19-year old Harmanpreet Singh for short corners who did not disappoint either and was one of the top scorers for the team.
#2 Indian coaches equivalent to their foreign peers
The one thing we have learnt from Hockey India League (HIL) is that given a chance, Indian coaches are good enough to produce results at the highest stage. If it was Cedric D’Souza’s coached side, Delhi which won the title last year, Ranchi’s Indian gaffer Harendra Singh continued that trend this year too.
The ex-national coach outfoxed his well known foreign counterparts with some shrewd game plans and player managment skills. His decision to maintain the core team intact also seemed to have work wonders as his boys delivered the goods when it mattered the most.
It is a significant achievement considering the fact that how home coaches are looked upon as inferior to their foreign peers and generally given a secondary role in the team.
#1 Offense wins Games, Defense wins Championships
The saying truly fits the final denouement of the tournament. Ranchi Rays, erstwhile Ranchi Rhinos won their second title in the wake of a strong defensive game.
In HIL’s inaugral season , Ranchi emerged as champions due to the efforts of a solid backline with players like Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh playing a stellar role. Both the Indian duo along with Fergus Kavanagh continued their tidy work at the back & were the unsung heroes of Ranchi Rays this season. Barring the first game, the defenders hardly put a foot wrong throughout their campaign and were always up to the task.
In the absence of Spanish Goalkeeper Francisco Cortes, Australian Tyler Lovell did a stupendous job under the bar. His heroic efforts in the semi-final and final did the trick for the ranchi outfit which handed them their second trophy.
