Hockey India League (HIL), known as the Coal India Hockey India League is a professional

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

league in India. The league is organized by

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...

, the governing body for the sport in India. HIL, along with the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

, and Pro Kabaddi League, is considered one of the major sports leagues in the country. HIL consists of six teams, with the regular season lasting two months from January to February, with each team playing 10 games. The top four teams at the end of the season move into the play-offs, where the championship game decides the Hockey India League winner. Hockey India League was founded in 2013 as part of

's attempt to get an

International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...

sanctioned league after the un-sanctioned and non-Hockey India tournament,

World Series Hockey World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchise ...

, began in 2012. The first season took place in 2013 with five teams. Since beginning, the league has proven to be a financial success for Hockey India, who were in financial disarray before the league began. In 2015, it was reported that the federation earned a profit from the league and television revenues. The most recent champion of the Hockey India League is Kalinga Lancers, who won the tournament in 2017.

Ranchi Rhinos Ranchi Rhinos (abbreviated as RR) was a field hockey team based in Ranchi, Jharkhand that played in the Hockey India League. The team won the inaugural season of Hockey India League defeating Delhi Waveriders by 2-1. It is owned by Patel-Uniexc ...

, Delhi Waveriders,

Ranchi Rays Ranchi Rays (RCR) is an Indian field hockey team based in Ranchi, Jharkhand that competes in the Hockey India League (HIL). It was announced as the newest team to replace the defunct Ranchi Rhinos on 25 October 2014. It is owned by Indian cric ...

and

Punjab Warriors Jaypee Punjab Warriors (abbreviated as JPW) is a field hockey team based in Chandigarh, Punjab that plays in the Hockey India League. It is owned by Jaypee Group. Former Australian coach Barry Dancer serves as the head coach for the team while ...

have also won the league.

History

In 2012, the

Indian Hockey Federation The Indian Hockey Federation was the Indian branch of the International Hockey Federation. Background It was the apex governing body of field hockey in India. It was formed on 7 November 1925 in Gwalior. It was the first non-European team to ...

and

Nimbus Nimbus, from the Latin for "dark cloud", is an outdated term for the type of cloud now classified as the nimbostratus cloud. Nimbus also may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Halo (religious iconography), also known as ''Nimbus'', a ring of ligh ...

began

, a professional

league in India. After the success of the league,

announced the formation of their own franchise-based league, launched in mid-2012, known as the Hockey India League. Inspired by the cricket league,

, the league was approved by the

. The league was originally planned to have six teams, which would be established after the bidding was done for the twelve proposed cities that would host an HIL team. However, due to lack of interest in a sixth city, the league commenced in 2013 with five teams: Delhi Waveriders,

Mumbai Magicians Mumbai Magicians (abbreviated as MM) was a field hockey team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that played in the Hockey India League from 2012 to 2014. It was owned by Dabur India Ltd. Australian coach Ric Charlesworth served as the head coach fo ...

, and

Uttar Pradesh Wizards The Uttar Pradesh Wizards (abbreviated as UPW) are a field hockey team based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh that plays in the Hockey India League. It is owned by Sahara India Pariwar. Former Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans serves as coach for the team an ...

. Before the beginning of the season,

ESPN STAR Sports Fox Sports (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version of Sta ...

was announced as the league's official broadcasting partner on a five-year deal. The first match was played on 14 January 2013, as Delhi Waveriders defeated the Punjab Warriors 2–1 at the

Dhyan Chand National Stadium The Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, commonly known by its former name National Stadium, is a field hockey stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named after former Indian field hockey player, Dhyan Chand. It served as the venue for the ...

. The league had gained some buzz from the marquee signings of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

internationals

Sardara Singh Sardara Singh (born 15 July 1986), sometimes referred as Sardar Singh, is an Indian former professional field hockey player and captain of the Indian national team. He usually plays the center half position. Sardara became the youngest player t ...

and

Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He ...

, as well as the signings of foreign players such as

Jamie Dwyer Jamie Dwyer (born 12 March 1979) is an Australian field hockey player. He currently plays for YMCC Coastal City Hockey Club in the Melville Toyota League in Perth, Western Australia. He also played for the Queensland Blades in the Australian ...

, Moritz Fürste, and

Teun de Nooijer Teun Floris de Nooijer (born 22 March 1976) is a field hockey player from the Netherlands, who twice became Olympic champion with the Dutch national squad, in 1996 and in 2000, and was on the team in 2012. He curre ...

. The inaugural season ended with Ranchi Rhinos being the first champions, defeating the Delhi Waveriders 2–1 in the final. The league was considered a success immediately in the years following the inaugural season. Before the beginning of the second season, the Kalinga Lancers were announced as the sixth team in the Hockey India League. However, after the 2014 season, the league suffered its first setback when the Mumbai Magicians disbanded. The team was swiftly replaced though with

Dabang Mumbai Dabang Mumbai (abbreviated as DBM) is a field hockey team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, that plays in the Coal India Hockey India League (HIL). The aim is to build a team for the eight-time Olympic Champions, India be able to compete ...

being launched before the 2015 season. The league though suffered another setback before the 2015 season when Ranchi Rhinos, the inaugural champions, were disbanded after an ownership problem. The team though, like with Mumbai, was quickly replaced with

. Hockey India postponed the event in 2018 for unclear reasons. Later they announced that the next season of Hockey India league will be scheduled in November - December 2019.

Rules

If there is a tie in any match then there would be extra time. Still, if winner is not decided, there would be a shoot-out. If still the winner is not decided there would be no option left other than penalty strokes.

Teams

League championships

Tournament records

Sponsorship

Prize money

It was announced that the winning and losing team in the final is awarded 3 crores INR and 1.5 crores INR respectively.

Board

Before the league's first season,

appointed Steve Catton as competitions director. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs

Rajeev Shukla Rajeev Shukla (born 13 September 1959) is an Indian politician, former journalist, political commentator and the former chairman of Indian Premier League. In 2015, he was re-appointed unanimously as the Chairman of IPL by the BCCI. On 18 Dec 2 ...

, leader of the opposition in

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jai ...

, and media personality

Rajat Sharma Rajat Sharma (born 18 February 1957) is an Indian journalist and businessperson who is the chairman and Editor-in-chief of India TV, an Indian news outlet. Sharma is known for his show ''Aap Ki Adalat'' in which he is seen interviewing politic ...

are the members of the board for the Hockey India League. Along with Steve Catton, Barry Anderson was appointed as the tournament director. Hockey India appointed Todd Faulds as its competitions director for the second edition of the Hockey India League. Todd worked as a competitions manager for the FIH 2012 Men's Champions Trophy in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and 2012 International Super Series in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. Bjorn Isberg has been the Hockey India League tournament director since 2014. Isberg had served as tournament director for the 2012 London Olympics field hockey tournament, and three Champions Trophy tournaments (in 2004, 2007, and 2011).

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1 Professional sports leagues in India Sports leagues established in 2013 2013 establishments in India Sport in India