Team focus: Hockey India League

With a new name and set of players, Dabang Mumbai (earlier Mumbai Magicians) would try to leave no stone unturned in this year’s tournament to mark their arrival. The team has gone through a complete overhaul with the change in ownership and team management.

DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd., the new owners made their intentions very clear in the closed bid auction last year when they bought nine players out of top-15 at an astronomical price. Tom Boon, their new star forward was acquired for whopping USD $103,000, making him the highest paid player in HHIL.

They have also roped in former Indian captain Viren Rasquinha as the strategic advisor and team mentor. This complete change in the set-up does make sense as the only static thing for the team in the past seasons has been their miserable 5th position in the points table.

However with the introduction of fresh legs and new ideas, it seems that this year they can finally put up a good show and challenge for the championship.

Team Overview

Owner: DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd

Head Coach: Valentin Altenburg

Home Stadium: Mahindra Hockey Stadium,Mumbai(Capacity-8250)

Team Composition

Player	Nationality	Position
Adrian D'Souza	Malaysia	Goalkeeper
David Harte	Ireland	Goalkeeper
Anup Amarpal Valmiki	India	Forward
Glenn Turner	India	Forward
Bharat	India	Forward
Tom Boon	India	Forward
Nilakanta Sharma	India	Midfelder
Vinaya Vokkaliga Swamy	India	Midifielder
Tyron Pereira	India	Midfielder
Santa Singh	India	Midfielder
Rajat Sharma	India	Midfielder
Chinglensana Singh Kangujam	India	Midfielder
Vikas Vishnu Pillay	India	Midfielder
Arjun Halappa	India	Midfielder
Vikram Vishnu Pillay	India	Midfielder
Matthew Swann	Australia	Midfielder
Nick Catlin	England	Midfielder
Floris Evers	Netherland	Midfielder
Conor Harte	Ireland	Defender
Tomas Prochazka	Czech Republic	Defender
Jeremy Hayward	Australia	Defender
Amit Gowda	India	Defender
Harmanpreet Singh	India	Defender
Timothy Deavin	Australia	Defender

Past performances

Managing an overall win percentage of just 13.63% in two season and conceding goals at the rate of 2.77 per match, the stats tell the story of the team’s poor performances.

Key players

Defence

Dabang’s refurbished defence looks solid as steel with the introduction of new players. Between the sticks they have the ever reliable Irish goalkeeper David Harte. His brother Conor Harte would also join him in guarding the backline. The telepathic understanding between two brothers can surely come in handy for the team.

Much would be expected from Australian defender Jeremy Hayward to replicate his last year’s performance for the national side.

Midfield

Mumbai outfit have the most abundant options in the midfield. Their main cog in the wheel in the midfield area would be Australian Mathew Swann. The tall Dutch Floris Evers will be the new go-to-guy for the team and he would be expected to shine for the Mumbai team.

However, one key concern could be the absence of any big Indian name in the middle of the park.

Forward

Averaging just 1.77 goals per match, lack of goals has always been a major headache for the Mumbai team. However, to solve their forward woes, they have shelled out a huge sum of money to acquire the services of dynamic Belgian forward Tom Boon. He definitely needs to be sharp in front of the goal and repay the team managment for showing their faith in him.

Glenn Turner, the highest scorer of the team from past season would again be in the thick of action and would be expected to better his goal tally.