Mumbai: The new owners of Mumbai franchise of Hockey India League (HIL) on Thursday said the team will be renamed as 'Dabang Mumbai' from third edition of the tournament to be held in January-February next year.
DoIT Sports Management is the new owner of the franchise, earlier called `Mumbai Magicians', owned by Dabur Group which pulled out of the third edition of HIL.
Dabang Mumbai has appointed former India captain and Arjuna awardee Viren Rasquinha as its strategic advisor and mentor.
"My role as strategic advisor and mentor is not just to make the Mumbai franchise strong but also help it in proper organisation, support system and create a buzz around the team," Rasquinha said.
"I have been impressed with the team's vision and its commitment. Hockey is a big challenge, especially here in Mumbai. The entire hockey fraternity had been lamenting that hockey's popularity has gone down over the years.
"There used to be a time when half the Indian team or 5-6 players used to be from Mumbai and now if you see in the last decade or so, only one or two are Mumbai players."
The 34-year-old said said the new franchise has not retained any of the players and would pick a fresh side in the auctions on Saturday at Delhi.
"This year Dabang Mumbai will be contracting the players only for one season. After this season and before next year, the entire player pool will go for auction for all teams. We will definitely be bidding for some of the players who had played for the earlier Mumbai franchise," he said.
Rasquinha said that fitness and depth in the side would be some of the things that they are focusing on.
The previous Mumbai franchise had finished last and second last in the two seasons and Rasquinha said they would aim for the semi-final spot in the upcoming edition.
"The first aim is to get into the semi-final. The Mumbai team hasn't managed to do that in the first couple of seasons," he said.
German junior team's head coach Valentin Altenburg was named as the chief coach of Dabang Mumbai, while former India skipper Anil Aldrin was roped in as coach. Edgar Mascrenhas has been appointed as the goalkeeper coach while Jens Hillmann will the performance analyst for the side.
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