NEW DELHI (espnstar.com) – The increasing popularity of the Premier Hockey League and its growing influence amongst players has made the National Championships virtually redundant.

Conceived as a common platform to showcase talent, the National Championships lost their relevance once the PHL took into its fold the major hockey-playing regions before catapulting them to fame in its own unique way.

With more than 50 teams vying for honours and the balance tipped too heavily in favour of the institutional teams, it would never have been possible for a National Championship to identify and nurture stars with the same conviction as PHL did.

While the embrace of the Nationals and the number of players it gives exposure to can never be questioned, PHL brings with it a sort of brevity that serves the purpose to an admirable extent. Seven teams in the fray automatically mean the chaff does not find a place. The cream, invariably, is provided the opportunity to give off its best.

In the initial stages, PHL was guilty of projecting teams which were either essentially city-centric or simply did not have the depth in talent to hold their own in the long run. For example, players from Bengal, Delhi and Manipur were allowed to hop on to the bandwagon but there was no place for two nurseries with time-tested assembly lines – Orissa and Jharkhand.

But wiser counsel prevailed in the subsequent editions and with careful vetting by a group of committed experts, the vast expanse of the country has been covered. Nearly so. There is room for change, even as increase in the number of teams but that will necessitate a return to the outfit already tried in the previous editions. One team that can be readily formed is Jharkhand, as the talent flow here matches the one in Sundergarh.

Besides providing an abridged version of the Nationals, PHL has enhanced the profiles of its players, boosting their morale with money, popularity and the kind of élan only extensive television coverage can give. With ESPN intrinsically linked to the game, the league is a grooming ground of not only talent but hockey personalities who not merely make a show of their qualities but actually prove them in actual match situations. One innovation which has helped this cause is the time-outs which gets the player to think, regroup and get their act together in front of the camera.

In this context, the entry of foreign players, their concepts and the way they carry themselves can hardly be gainsaid. Our players have added more polish to their way by emulating professional methods of training and practice. Likewise, the world-class kits and the prize money have all had a positive effect, raising the standard of the game in the tournament as well as enhance the stature of those who come from humble backgrounds.

This year’s PHL will get to see another dimension that has not been explored in the past – that of juniors rubbing shoulders with the best in the country. Adding a definite edge to this wholesome blend is a pool of players which has produced good quality hockey in the past six months. They bring with them the merits of two podium finishes, a title triumph, a string of resolute performances and above all, top physical condition.

In short, hockey can’t get any better.

s2h editor’s note:PHL can never be a substitute or an alternative for the Nationals. For the betterment of hockey, both should go hand in hand as they have different origin, purpose and functions. If someone asks me my preference, my first vote will be in favour of the Nationals, second to the PHL.