New Delhi: In a bid to make it interesting and more skillful, Hockey India League's (HIL) 2016 season will be played under tweaked regulations, the most interesting of which is an incentive for scoring a field goal that will count as two goals.
Hockey India President Narinder Batra on Monday revealed the new playing conditions to the media ahead of the players auction on Thursday where 272 players will go under the hammer to bag a two-year lucrative contract, which is also a change from the previous contractual period that was for three years.
But the rule that drew most attention was a field goal counting for two, which has been approved by the FIH Competitions Committee and Rules Committee.
"This has been done to improve the field play since scoring field goals requires the most skill and is also exciting for spectators to watch," Batra told reporters here.
That effectively means a team trailing 0-1 has a chance to win the match till the last minute if they are able to score a field goal, which will help them win the game 2-1 with just one strike.
And not just a field goal, if a penalty stroke is awarded as a result of a deliberate foul by the defending team on a penalty corner, the goal scored off that will also count for two. However, it will be left to the referees to decide if the foul is deliberate or not.
The new rule will also pave way for attacking style of hockey. Plus, it may force the six franchises to draw a new strategy at the auction where attacking strikers may rise in demand and drag-flickers may not be poached as aggressively as was the case earlier.
It will also reduce the attackers' tendency to try and find a defender's foot to earn a penalty corner and allow the penalty-corner specialists to come into play.
But that's not the only change introduced in HIL playing regulations. Here's all you need to know:
TEAM COMPOSITION
a) Squad of 20 players. Earlier it was 24.
b) 12 Indian players. Earlier 14.
c) 8 foreign players. Earlier 10.
d) Minimum of 2 goalkeepers on the bench.
PLAYING COMPOSITION
a) All players will be on the match sheet for each match and will be as a part of the playing 20.
PLAYER REPLACEMENT
a) A franchise can now make immediate replacements by selecting a player from the HIL reserve list 2016, in case there is an injury.
SCORING
a) For every Field Goal and goal off a penalty stroke resulting from a Penalty Corner where a goal being scored is prevented by a deliberate foul – 2 Goals
b) For every Penalty Corner scored in a match – 1 Goal
c) For every goal scored from a Penalty Stroke resulting from a Penalty Corner (where a goal being scored is prevented as a results of the ball hitting a foot or body) – 1 Goal
d) In a shoot-out competition, a goal from a direct shoot-out and a Penalty Stroke – 1 Goal
POINTS SYSTEM
a) Win: 5 points
b) Draw: 2 points
c) Loss with goal difference of two or less goals: 1 point
d) Loss with goal difference of three or more goals: 0 points
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