Hockey India League: Delhi Waveriders- Team preview
After the successful completion of the Hero Hockey World League Final in New Delhi, all eyes will now be on the Hero Hockey India League 2014 which will start from January 25 and will feature six franchise-based city teams namely Ranchi Rhinos, Mumbai Magicians, Delhi Waveriders, Punjab Warriors, Uttar Pradesh Wizards and Kalinga Lancers.
Hero HIL 2014, which is the second season of the professional field hockey tournament will see the addition of one new team in the form of Kalinga Lancers (Bhubaneshwar).
In today’s article we preview the Delhi based Franchise- Delhi Waveriders.
OWNER- Wave Group
CO-OWNER- John Abraham (13% share holder of the team)
COACH- Cedric D’Souza
MANAGER- Ajit Pal Singh
CAPTAIN- Sardara Singh
HOME STADIUM- Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi (capacity-16,200)
SLOGAN- ‘Live Hockey, Love Hockey’
TEAM COMPOSITION:-
| PLAYER NAME | COUNTRY |
| Sardara Singh (Captain) | India |
| Simon Childs | New Zealand |
| Yuvraj Walmiki | India |
| Gurvinder Chandi | India |
| Danish Mujtaba | India |
| Matt Ghodes | Australia |
| Norris Jones | South Africa |
| Akashdeep Singh | India |
| Talwinder Singh | India |
| Imran Khan | India |
| Oscar Deecke | Germany |
| Gurbaz Singh | India |
| Andres Mir Ben | Spain |
| Rupinder Pal Singh | India |
| Bipin Kishore | India |
| Hans Raj | India |
| Taeke Taekema | Netherlands |
| Dean Cousins | New Zealand |
| Nicolas Jacobi | Germany |
| Rahul Shilpkar | India |
| Surender Kumar | India |
| Andy Hayward | New Zealand |
| Pirmin Blaak | Netherlands |
| Vikramjit Singh | India |
ABOUT THE CAPTAIN
Captain of the Delhi Waveriders as well as the Indian National team, Sardara Singh was named the Player of the Tournament in the inaugural season of Hero Hockey India League last year.
Sardara, who became the highest-paid marquee player at the inaugural season of HIL was also awarded as the Player of the Tournament in 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He captained his side to a second place finish in HIL 2013.
Having the experience of playing 174 International matches, Sardara Singh will be one of the biggest threats for all the other teams in HIL 2014.
PERFORMANCE IN 2013
Delhi Waveriders played brilliantly as they finished second out of the five teams in the inaugural season of Hero Hockey India League.
They finished the league phase as toppers with 49 points and also had an unbeaten streak of 11 matches before losing to Uttar Pradesh Wizards in their last league match.
They defeated Punjab Warriors 3-1 in the second semifinal of the tournament, but eventually lost to the reigning champions Ranchi Rhinos 1-2 in the Championship match.
KEY PLAYERS
There are a number of match winners in the Delhi Waveriders team, but their key players include the captain and midfielder Sardara Singh, German goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi, South-African forward Lloyd Norris Jones, Australian Forward Matthew Ghodes, young Indian hockey sensation Yuvraj Walmiki and Akashdeep Singh and defender and penalty corner specialist Rupinder Pal Singh.
SCHEDULE OF DELHI WAVERIDERS
| 1 | 25 January | - | Punjab Warriors | Mohali | Match 1 |
| 2 | 27 January | - | Ranchi Rhinos | Ranchi | Match 4 |
| 3 | 30 January | - | Kalinga Lancers | Delhi | Match 7 |
| 4 | 31 January | - | Punjab Warriors | Delhi | Match 8 |
| 5 | 2 February | - | Kalinga Lancers | Bhubaneswar | Match 12 |
| 6 | 5 February | - | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Delhi | Match 14 |
| 7 | 6 February | - | Mumbai Magicians | Delhi | Match 15 |
| 8 | 8 February | - | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Lucknow | Match 17 |
| 9 | 12 February | - | Ranchi Rhinos | Delhi | Match 22 |
| 10 | 15 February | - | Mumbai Magicians | Mumbai | Match 26 |
Semifinals will take place on 22nd February in Ranchi and final will also be held in Ranchi on 23rd Feb.