Kalinga Lancers have decided to retain the Indian troika of forwards Lalit Upadhyay, Devindar Sunil Walimiki and defender Gurjinder Singh for the coming two seasons of the Hockey India League.
The Bhubaneswar-based franchisee has also retained young Australian talents — striker Aran Zalewski and goalkeeper Andrew Charter — for upcoming two seasons.
For Kalinga Lancers, the drag-flicker specialist Gurjinder proved to be a key player for his successful record in converting penalty corners in HIL.
In the 2015 HIL, he was the fourth highest goal-scorer in the league and top scorer for his team with five goals, all through penalty corner conversions. His teammate Lalit, who scored two spectacular goals last season, played a key role in mobilising the forward line and helped his team to create attacks.
Australia’s goalkeeper Andrew Charter is another important member of Kalinga Lancers, who saved many matches for his team.
He displayed his best performance at his home match against the defending champions Delhi Waveriders, where he foiled many attacks from the opponents and was awarded Man-of-the-Match for his excellent show.
His fellow countryman Aran Zalewski is also developing into a new star of the team with his consistent performance and talents. He scored the winning goal against Delhi Waveriders at their away match in New Delhi and earned the Man-of-the-Match Award for his brilliant attacking skills.
Kalinga Lancers finished last with two wins against the defending champions Ranchi Rhinos and Mumbai Magicians in the opening season. This year, Kalinga Lancers started their campaign with a spectacular 6-3 win over Ranchi Rays and defeated Delhi Waveriders to finish fifth in the points-table.
