All you need to know about the 2025-26 Men's Hockey India League

The second edition of the revived Men's Hockey India League is scheduled to take place across three Indian cities, Chennai, Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar, from 3 to 26 January, 2026.

This season will have a single round-robin stage, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout rounds, unlike the previous edition, which split the teams into two groups of four teams for the first phase.

There are also a couple of changes this season as two of the teams - Team Gonasika and UP Rudras - have pulled out due to financial challenges.

While Ranchi Royals have replaced Team Gonasika, the Hockey India League Governing Council (HIL GC) will run the UP Rudras for the 2026 edition to maintain an 8-team league.

The season will kick off in Chennai with the hosts Tamil Nadu Dragons taking on last year's finalist Hyderabad Toofans in the opening fixture on Saturday.

Format of HIL 2025-26

There are eight teams this season, and each team will compete against each other once in a single round robin phase. The four best teams on the league table will then advance to the playoff stage.

In the playoffs, the top 2 teams will compete against each other in Qualifier 1, with the winner advancing to the final and the loser going into Qualifier 2.

The second team of Qualifier 2 will be decided by the winner of Eliminator 1, which will be against the team ranked 3rd and 4th on the league table.

The winner of Qualifier 2 will compete against the winner of Qualifier 1 in the title clash on 26 January, crowning the champion of the HIL 2025-26 season on India's Republic Day.

Squad for Men's HIL 2025-26

SG Pipers

Indian: Pawan, Rupinder Pal Singh, Varun Kumar, Manjeet, Rohit, Jarmanpreet Singh, Ankit Pal, Raj Kumar Pal, Thokchom Kingson Singh, Shamsher Singh, Aditya Lalage, Dilraj Singh, Sourabh Anand Khushwaha

Overseas: Tomas Santiago (ARG), Bram Van Battum (NED), Gareth Furlong (GBR), Willott Ky (AUS), Jacob Draper (GBR), Tomas Domene (ARG), Roman Duvekot (BEL)

Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers

Indian: Vivek Lakra, Parmod, Jugraj Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Affan Yousuf, Pradhan Poovanna Chandura, Atul Deep, Pardeep Singh Sandhu, Ajinkya Jadhav, Ketan Kushwaha, Gursewak Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek

Overseas: James Carr (New Zealand), Tommy Willems (Belgium), Gauthier Boccard (Belgium), Enrique Gonzalez (ESP), Christopher Ruhr (Germany), Tom Grambusch (Germany), Sean Findlay (New Zealand)

Soorma Hockey Club

Indian: Mohith HS, Gurinder Singh, Pradip Mandal, Sukhvinder, Harmanpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Jeet Pal, Akashdeep Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Harjeet Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Maninder Singh, Gurjant Singh

Overseas: Vincent Vanasch (BEL), Nicolas Della Torre (ARG), Jeremy Hayward (AUS), Victor Wegnez (BEL), Nicolas Poncelet (BEL), Nicolas Keenan (ARG), Dayaan Cassiem (RSA)

Ranchi Royals

Indian: Rajak Pankaj Kumar, Suraj Karkera, Purti Ashish Tani, Ravneet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Anmol Ekka, Amir Ali, Vishnukant Singh, Yashdeep Siwach, Manpreet Singh, Manmeet Singh Rai, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Mandeep Singh

Overseas: Joshua Beltz (AUS), Van Oots Maxime (BEL), Tim Howard (AUS), Jack Waller (GBR), Mustaphaa Cassiem (RSA), Tom Boon (BEL), Sam Lane (NZL)

Tamil Nadu Dragons

Indians: Prince Deep Singh, Anand Lakra, Pruthvi G M, Amit Rohidas, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen, Chandan Yadav, Shesha Gowda, Arun J, Sushil Dhanwar, Adrohit Ekka, Selvaraj Kanagaraj, Selvam Karthi, Uttam Singh

Overseas: David Harte (IRE), Sander de Wijn (NED), Tom Craig (AUS), Blake Govers (AUS), Paul Kaufmann (GER), Thomas Sorsby (GBR), Nathan Ephraums (AUS)

Hyderabad Toofans

Indian: Bikramjit Singh, Mukul Sharma, Amandeep Lakra, Devindar Walmiki, Sundram Singh Rajawat, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit Walmiki, Rajinder Singh, Rahim Aakib Sayyed, Shilanand Lakra, Irengbam Rohit Singh, Talwinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh

Overseas: Jean Paul Danneberg (GER), Arthur de Sloover (NED), Zachary Wallace (GBR), Michel Struthoff (GER), Nic Woods (AUS), Tim Brand (AUS), Jacob Anderson (AUS)

Kalinga Lancers

Indian: Krishan B Pathak, Sunil PB, Pratap Lakra, Rohit Kullu, Sanjay, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Amit Kumar Toppo, Rosan Kujur, Gursahibjit Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Deepak Pradhan, Dilpreet Singh, Boby Singh Dhami

Overseas: Jed Snowden (AUS), Antoine Kina (BEL), Arthur Van Doren (BEL), Alexander Hendrickx (BEL), Craig Marais (AUS), Liam Henderson (AUS), Cooper Burns (AUS)

HIL GC

Indian: Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Jasjit Singh Kular, Mohammad Haris, Surender Kumar, Prasant Barla, Talem Priyobarta, Hardik Singh, Manmeet Singh, Rahul Yadav, Ajeet Yadav, Sudeep Chirmako, Gurjot Singh, Lalit Upadhyay

Overseas: James Mazarelo (GBR), James Albery (GBR), Kane Russell (NZL), Daragh Walsh (IRE), Simon Yorston (NZL), Sam Ward (GBR), Tanguy Cosyns (BEL)

Schedule of Men's HIL 2026 (All Timings in IST)

3rd January

7:30 PM - Tamil Nadu Dragons Vs Hyderabad Toofans

4th January

5:00 PM - Soorma Hockey Club Vs Rahr Bengal Tigers

7:30 PM - Kalinga Lancers Vs Ranchi Royals

5th January

7:30 PM - SG Pipers Vs HIL GC

6th January

7:30 PM - Tamil Nadu Dragons Vs Soorma Hockey Club

7th January

5:00 PM - HIL GC Vs Rarh Bengal Tigers

7:30 PM - Hyderabad Toofans Vs Ranchi Royals

8th January

5:00 PM - Rahr Bengal Tigers Vs Kalinga Lancers

9th January

5:00 PM - Hyderabad Toofans Vs Soorma Hockey Club

7:30 PM - Tamil Nadu Drgons vs SG Pipers

11th January

5:00 PM - HIL GC Vs Kalinga Lancers

7:30 PM - Ranchi Royals Vs Rarh Bengal Tigers

12th January

5:00 PM - SG Pipers Vs Hyderabad Toofans

7:30 PM - HIL GC Vs Tamil Nadu Dragons

13th January

7:30 PM - Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Tamil Nadu Dragons

14th January

5:00 PM - Hyderabad Toofans Vs Kainga Lancers

7:30 PM - Ranchi Royals Vs SG Pipers

15th January

7:30 PM - Soorma Hockey Club Vs HIL GC

16th January

7:30 PM - Ranchi Royals Vs Soorma Hockey Club

17th January

5:00 PM - Rarh Bengal Tigers Vs Hyderabad Toofans

7:30 PM - Kalinga Lancers Vs SG Pipers

18th January

5:00 PM - SG Pipers Vs Rarah Bengal Tigers

7:30 PM - Kalinga Lancers Vs Tamil Nadu Dragons

19th January

7:30 PM - HIL GC Vs Ranchi Royals

20th January

5:00 PM - Hyderabad Toofans Vs HIL GC

7:30 PM - Kalinga Lancers Vs Soorma Hockey Club

21th January

5:00 PM - Tamil Nadu Dragons Vs Ranchi Royals

22nd January

5:00 PM - Soorma Hockey Club Vs SG Pipers

23th January

5:00 PM - Qualifier 1

7:30 PM - Eliminator

25th January

7:30 PM - Qualifier 2

26th January

5:00 PM - 3rd Place Match

7:30 PM - Men's HIL 2025-26 Final

Where to Watch Men's HIL 2025-26?

All matches of the Men's Hockey India League 2025-26 will be live broadcast on the TV Channels of Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3, and DD Sports.

The matches will also be live-streamed on the OTT platform of the Waves app and the Hockey India League YouTube channel.