On cloud nine after becoming the second costliest Indian player during the recent Hockey Indian League (HIL) player’s auction, young defender Gurmail Singh on Saturday said his new team Dabang Mumbai is the side to watch out for in next year’s cash-rich tournament.
The 23-year-old defender from Punjab never imagined that he would find himself in the middle of a fierce bidding war between Jaypee Punjab Warriors and Delhi Wave riders before attracting the second-highest bid among Indian players from Dabang Mumbai, owned by DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd.
“I am feeling really good to be associated with Dabang Mumbai. In fact, I feel very proud,” said Gurmail, who was bought for a whopping USD 81,000.
“I was watching the auction live and the way bidding was going, I was sure that I will either play for Delhi or my previous franchise Punjab. But Dabang Mumbai came into the picture pretty late and ultimately chose me and I hope I live up to their expectations. This squad is formidable and is one of the team to watch out for in HIL 2016,” he added.
Talking about his new teammates at Dabang Mumbai, Gurmail, who has featured in the Asia Cup, World Cup and also FIH World League Semi-Final in Belgium this year, said: “I already know couple of them like Nikkin (Thimmaiah), Danish (Mujtaba) as I have played with them in Indian colours.”
Young striker Nikkin will be one of the Indian stars in charge of the forward line and the Karnataka lad is overjoyed to get an opportunity to play for Mumbai.
