Defending champions Ranchi Rays retains its Best players for HIL 2016 and 2017

Defending champions Ranchi Rays retains its Best players for the Hockey India League 2016 & 2017 .

New Delhi: Being the Champion of the Hockey India League (HIL) 2015 in their maiden season, Ranchi Rays is now more committed to keep the title in their second season also as they have retained all the key players of the team for the 2016 & 2017 HIL. The defending champions has retained its Captain and star player Ashley Jackson, Barry Middleton (both from England), world-class defender Birendra Lakra, Indian national team's regular players Kothajit Singh and Manpreet Singh along with Australian defender Fergus Kavanagh.

The Ranchi-based franchisee will continue with English midfielder Ashley Jackson, who is the Captain of the Ranchi-based franchisee where he led the team from the front and scored 12 goals to help his team to clinch the 2015 HIL title. Among the 12 goals, he converted 11 penalty corners and became the top-scorer of the 2015 HIL and 2015 Hero Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. His fellow country-man Barry Middleton has proven himself to be a versatile player who can play at any position in the team. With four goals, Middleton was the sixth highest goal-scorer in the last season.

Among the best defenders in the world, Birendra Lakra leads the defence of the Ranchi Rays and has been an integral part of the team. Along with Birendra, another international player Kothajit Singh holds the defence of the team. Both the players have played more than one hundred international matches and their vast experience will solidify the defence-line of the team. The team has also retained young talent Manpreet Singh, whose presence in the team will give more options to the Coaches in the team combination.

Speaking on their retained players, Ranchi Rays' Spokesperson stated, “All the players retained by us were hugely instrumental towards our win in the third edition of the Hockey India League. The players held back by us are a good mix of defenders as well as strikers. Ashley is one of the best drag-flickers across the world and his conversions of penalty corner's last year are unforgettable, hence this was the easiest decision for us. After Ashley, the obvious choice was Barry Middleton, Manpreet Singh and Kothajit Singh as they proved to be lethal when in attacking mode and which helped create those scoring opportunities for the team. Apart from them, keeping back Birendra Lakra and Fergus Kavanagh was important as they are the backbone of our defence and on many a occasion last year they successfully pushed back the opponents strikers and we hope they create the same magic in the coming season”.

Speaking on Ranchi Rays' retaining decision, Birendra Lakra said, “I am happy to see the best players have been retained in the team, which will help us in our campaign for the upcoming season. The presence of Ashley is very important for us as he knows the inside-out of the team and we enjoy playing under his leadership. Barry is also a key member of our team and his flexibility is big support for us. Kothajit, Manpreet and Kavanagh are also very good players and playing with them again will be a good experience. We are expecting a good show again in the upcoming seasons.”

Retained Players

1. INDIAN

2. FOREIGN