‘Odisha Lancers’ to be sixth team in HIL

November 01, 2013 02:09 pm | Updated 02:09 pm IST - BHUBANESWAR:

A franchise promoted by Odisha-based public sector units will participate in the Hockey India League’s 2014 season.

A high-level meeting chaired by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi here on Thursday decided to form a Special Purpose Vehicle which will hold a franchise in HIL apart from promoting other sports in the State.

Mahanandi Coalfields Limited, a central sector coal PSU, and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO), will come together with having share of 50 per cent each for the SPV. The team titled ‘Odisha Lancers’ under the SPV, which will be the franchise in HIL, will take part in the tournament.

“At present, there are five teams playing in the HIL. A team from Odisha will be the sixth team in the league. Professional panels to be recruited by SPV will work out other details,” said Mr. Majhi after the meeting.

A core team comprising Dillip Tirkey, former Indian cricket captain, and Lazarus Barla, the present coach of India junior hockey, would prepare strategies on players’ acquisition for the league. Each team can acquire 10 foreign players and 14 Indian players.

List of players

Eight players from Odisha, who are now playing under different franchises, are Prabodh Tirkey, Subodh Tirkey, Dipsan Tirkey, Sanjeev Dung Dung, Anand Lakra, David Minz, Manjit Kulu and Dipak Kishore Ekka.

However, the franchise from Odisha would request inclusion of four new players in the list so that these players could be acquired for local flavour. These players are Birendra Lakra, Dinesh Ekka, Roshan Minz and Bikash Toppo.

“The formation of SPV heralds a new era in Odisha sports. We plan to offer scholarship and health insurance to sportsperson through new arrangement. If matches of HIL are played in Bhubaneswar, it will encourage budding hockey players to take the sport as career,” said Dilip Tirkey, who is also BJD Rajya Sabha member.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.