The buzz around the Hockey India League (HIL) mini auctions hit a high note Wednesday in New Delhi. Franchises wrapped up their squads in a lively closed-door session, snapping up top talents like overseas star Liam Henderson and Indian junior sensation Vivek Lakra.
Teams bid aggressively on more than 100 male players, all while sticking to a Rs. 4 crore salary cap. They built rosters mixing veteran international pros, promising young Indians, and specialists like goalkeepers and drag-flickers. This sets the stage for an exciting HIL 2026 season.
In big league news, the HIL Governing Council stepped in to take over the UP Rudras franchise. Until they find a new owner, the team will run under the council’s name and compete as "HIL Governing Council."
Eight franchises jumped into the action: HIL Governing Council, Hyderabad Toofans, JSW Soorma Hockey Club, Ranchi Royals, SG Pipers, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, Tamil Nadu Dragons, and Vedanta Kalinga Lancers.
Liam Henderson stole the show as the auction’s priciest pick. Vedanta Kalinga Lancers grabbed the Australian forward for Rs. 42 lakh after outbidding rivals. Not far behind, Dutch midfielder Sander de Wijn joined Tamil Nadu Dragons for Rs. 36 lakh following a tense battle with SG Pipers. HIL Governing Council also shelled out Rs. 36 lakh for German player Thies Prinz.
Indian juniors turned heads too. Goalkeeper Vivek Lakra started at a base price of Rs. 2 lakh but sparked a frenzy—Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers won him for a stunning Rs. 23 lakh. Midfielder Adrohit Ekka drew fire from JSW Soorma Hockey Club and Tamil Nadu Dragons, with the Dragons landing him at Rs. 11 lakh. Forward Ajeet Yadav, also at Rs. 2 lakh base, went to HIL Governing Council for Rs. 11.5 lakh.
Tamil Nadu Dragons kept it simple with midfielder Sushil Dhanwar at his Rs. 2 lakh base price. Meanwhile, Australian forward Cooper Burns headed to Vedanta Kalinga Lancers for Rs. 34.5 lakh after a close race with SG Pipers.
Don’t forget the kids: 14-year-old forward Ketan Kushwaha became one of the youngest signings when Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers picked him up for Rs. 2.5 lakh—a bright spot for India’s rising stars.
Veteran drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh, last season’s hero for Bengal Tigers, switched to SG Pipers for Rs. 12 lakh. The auctions highlighted teams’ push to grow young Indian talent alongside global experience, with players like Ekka, Lakra, and Kushwaha drawing big crowds.
With squads locked in, franchises gear up to turn those smart buys into wins when HIL 2026 kicks off.
Here’s a look at the final men’s squads:
HIL Governing Council (formerly UP Rudras):
Retained: Prashant Barla (Jr), Priyobarta Talem (Jr), Manmeet Singh, Gurjot Singh, Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Surender Kumar, Hardik Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Sudeep Chirmako, Jasjit Singh Kular, Sebastian Dockier (Overseas), Kane Russell (Overseas), Tanguy Cosyns (Overseas), James Mazarelo (Overseas), James Albery (Overseas), Sam Ward (Overseas).
New buys: Ajeet Yadav (Rs. 11.5 lakh), Thies Prinz (Rs. 36 lakh), Rahul Yadav (Rs. 2 lakh), Mohd Harris (Rs. 2 lakh).
Hyderabad Toofans:
All players retained: Mukul Sharma, Irengbam Rohit (Jr), Bikramjit Singh (Jr), Sundaram Rajawat (Jr), Arshdeep Singh (Jr), Devindar Sunil Walmiki, Amandeep Lakra, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Rahim Aakib Sayyed, Rajinder, Shilanand Lakra, Talwinder Singh, Gonzalo Peillat (Overseas), Jean Paul Danneberg (Overseas), Nic Woods (Overseas), Jacob Anderson (Overseas), Arthur de Sloover (Overseas), Timothy Brand (Overseas), Zachary Wallace (Overseas).
JSW Soorma Hockey Club:
Retained: Sukhvinder (Jr), Pradip Mandal (Jr), Vincent Vanasch (Overseas), Jeremy Hayward (Overseas), Nicolás Della Torre (Overseas), Victor Wegnez (Overseas), Nicolas Keenan (Overseas), Dayaan Cassiem (Overseas), Nicolas Poncelet (Overseas), Mohith H S, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harjeet Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Gurjant Singh, Maninder Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Akashdeep Singh (Traded from UP Rudras).
New buy: Jeetpal (Rs. 3.2 lakh).
Ranchi Royals:
Retained: Yashdeep Siwach, Amir Ali (Jr), Anmol Ekka (Jr), Araijeet Singh Hundal (Jr), Suraj Karkera, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Timothee Clement (Overseas), Timothy Howard (Overseas), Mustapha Cassiem (Overseas), Tom Boon (Overseas).
New buys: Manmeet Singh Rai (Rs. 2 lakh), Ashish Purty (Rs. 2 lakh), Loick Luypaert (Rs. 10 lakh), Sam Lane (Rs. 10 lakh), Jack Waller (Rs. 10 lakh), Ravneet Singh (Rs. 5 lakh).
SG Pipers:
Retained: Manjeet, Thokchom Kingson Singh, Rohit (Jr), Ankit Pal (Jr), Dilraj Singh (Jr), Aditya Lalage (Jr), Sourabh Anand Kushwaha (Jr), Pawan, Jarmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Willott KY (Overseas), Tomas Santiago (Overseas), Gareth Furlong (Overseas), Tomas Domene (Overseas), Jacob Draper (Overseas – Traded from Ranchi Royals).
New buys: Roman Duvekot (Rs. 10 lakh), Rupinder Pal Singh (Rs. 12 lakh), Bram Van Battum (Rs. 11 lakh).
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers:
Retained: Gursewak Singh (Jr), Hayden Beltz (Overseas), Gauthier Boccard (Overseas), James Carr (Overseas), Sean Findlay (Overseas), Enrique Gonzalez (Overseas – Traded from Vedanta Kalinga Lancers), Christopher Rühr (Overseas – Traded from Delhi SG Pipers), Jugraj Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Pradhan Poovanna Chandura, Affan Yousuf, Atul Deep, Pardeep Singh Sandhu, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek.
New buys: Parmod (Rs. 5 lakh), Vivek Lakra (Rs. 23 lakh), Ketan Kushwaha (Rs. 2.5 lakh), Ajinkya Jadhav (Rs. 2 lakh), Tom Grambusch (Rs. 10 lakh).
Tamil Nadu Dragons:
Retained: Pruthvi GM, Arun J (Jr), Prince Deep Singh (Jr), Chandan Yadav (Jr), Amit Rohidas, Anand Lakra, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Shesha Gowda, Selvam Karthi, Uttam Singh, Thomas Sorsby (Overseas), David Harte (Overseas), Moritz Ludwig (Overseas), Tom Craig (Overseas), Govers Blake (Overseas), Nathan Ephraums (Overseas).
New buys: Adrohit Ekka (Rs. 11 lakh), Sushil Dhanwar (Rs. 2 lakh), K Selvaraj (Rs. 2 lakh), Sander de Wijn (Rs. 36 lakh).
Vedanta Kalinga Lancers:
Retained: Gursahibjit Singh, Rohit Kullu (Jr), Deepak Pradhan (Jr), Rosan Kujur (Jr), Krishan B Pathak, Sanjay, Partap Lakra, Moriangthem Rabichandra, Dilpreet Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Alexander Hendrickx (Overseas), Arthur van Doren (Overseas), Antoine Kina (Overseas).
New buys: Liam Henderson (Rs. 42 lakh), Amit Toppo (Rs. 2 lakh), Sunil PB (Rs. 2 lakh), Bobby Singh Dhami (Rs. 10 lakh), Jed Snowden (Rs. 10 lakh), Cooper Burns (Rs. 34.5 lakh), Craig Marais (Rs. 10 lakh).
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