Finalist of last two editions of Hockey India League, Jaypee
Punjab Warriors will be hoping to strike gold this time around when they begin
their campaign on January 19th. The addition of Indian hockey
captain Sardar Singh will surely boost the morale of Punjab Warriors team who
have always come short in the finals of the tournament. Let us take a look how
ready the team is for this year’s tournament:
COACH
Jaypee Group owned Punjab Warriors have stuck with
Australian Barry Dancer who has been with the team since the first edition of
the tournament in 2012. After struggling in the early first edition of the
tournament, Barry Dancer has really done well with
the team playing the
Australian style of physical attacking hockey. Jagbir Singh who has coached
Indian in the past will be the assistant coach of the team.
TEAM
Just like the previous editions of the tournament the core
of Jaypee Punjab Warriors this time around is Australian players with team
management retaining Mark Knowles, Chris Ciriello and Jake Whetton among the
foreign players while SV Sunil, Satbir Singh and Varun Kumar were the Indian
players who were retained before the auctions. Addition of Indian captain
Sardar Singh during the auctions will surely provide some good strength and
creativity in the midfield to the team. Along with Sardar Singh, Jaypee Punjab
Warriors also signed Gurvinder Singh Chandi who has done well with Delhi WaveRiders
in the previous additions. Mark Gleghorne and Simon Orchard are also the other
big name players bought by the team in the auctions.
STRENGTHS
This season everyone eyes is on the new goal scoring rule in
which one field goal will count as two on the scoreboard. Jaypee Punjab Warriors
have done well by adding some good strikers and midfielders in the team. Jaypee
needed a leader in the midfield and in Sardar Singh and Simon Orchard, Jaypee
Warriors have done great job in getting the players who are all about attack.
The defense of Mark Knowles and Chris Ciriello was always well known and
keeping the star duo together will surely prove to be a boon for Punjab.
WEAKNESS
While the team has done well with the getting good outfield
players they have come short in the goalkeeping department. In the earlier
editions of the tournament, Punjab had the services of Jaap Stockmann and
Bharat Chetri but this time around Punjab could only manage the service of
Jugraj Singh (no experience for India- junior or seniors) and Tristan Clemons
who has just featured 18 times for Australian team, last coming in 2013. The
goalkeeping might turn out to be Achilles heel for Jaypee Punjab Warriors which
the opponents would surely want to exploit.
PREDICTION
Jaypee Warriors have always been strong on paper but they have
never been able to go the distance despite dazzling in the earlier rounds of
the tournaments. This team is stronger than the teams before and if the team’s
goalkeepers are able to decent jobs between the pipes, the team will surely be
able to reach the finals once again.
KEY PLAYERS
Jaypee Punjab Warriors have been blessed with some good
players but the key for them will be the midfield duo of Sardar Singh and Simon
Orchard. Both Sardar and Simon are known for their intelligent hockey. With
weak goalkeeping, the midfield will have to keep the ball away from its
defenders so the performance of Sardar Singh and Simon Orchard will be very
important for Punjab Warriors.
GROUND
Jaypee Punjab Warriors have shifted their home ground from International
Hockey Stadium in Mohali to Sports Complex in Sector 42 of Chandigarh.
Jaypee Punjab Warriors will play their opening match against
Ranchi Rays on January 19.
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