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World Series is good for India, says Rajpal

Bangalore, Jan 3, DH News Service:

In the midst of the ongoing tussle between Hockey India and the Indian Hockey Federation, the World Series Hockey will come as a boon to the players, feels Indian captain Rajpal Singh.

Nimbus Sports and the IHF had entered into a five-year agreement to conduct the series spread over ten cities in the country. But the international hockey federation (FIH) has termed the tournament unofficial, though it admitted it is no position to halt the event.

Based on the highly-popular Indian Premier League in cricket, the WSH, which is expected to be held in either November or December this year, will have corporate-owned teams and players picked by drafts.

“This is very good for hockey in India,” said Rajpal, who is in Bangalore to represent Indian Oil Corporation Limited in the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board inter-unit hockey tournament.

“It’s a lot like the Premier Hockey League (PHL) but let’s hope it doesn’t get shut out like that. We still don’t know what happened to the PHL… but we expect similar crowds to come to the WSH,” added Rajpal.

The City-based IHF-initiated PHL was first played in 2005 with five teams and was televised by ESPN Star but the highly successful event was discontinued in 2008.
Rajpal felt the new series would benefit Indian hockey in more ways than one. “Even if you’re not in the national team, you get to play and see the big players. It gives a lot of exposure for the youngsters. This module is like the ones being used in Europe and it’s highly successful there and it will be here as well.”

Rajpal refused to comment on the controversies surrounding Indian hockey or on Spanish coach Jose Brasa, whose term ended after the Asian Games.

Former Indian goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan seconded Rajpal’s views.
“If it works out it’s going to be good. The kind of exposure you get in a tournament like that is remarkable. For instance, in the PHL there was as much crowd as there would be when India take on Pakistan. This really helps players get used to conditions and with foreign players around, there’s a lot to learn,” said Devesh.