With the deal with Sahara renewed, Hockey India has decided to introduce a gradation system, something the players have been demanding for a long time. Sahara announced a 170 per cent hike in sponsorship on Wednesday, an amount in the range of Rs9 crore per year, making it the biggest sponsorship deal ever for Indian hockey. The contract has been signed for five years.

Hockey India secretary general Narendra Batra has said that the association will introduce a retainership fee for the senior and under-19 teams, a system similar to the one followed by the BCCI. “The players will be graded according to their performance as well as seniority, much like what happens in cricket. Once the Olympic qualifiers are over, we will sit with the senior players and draw a blueprint of how to effectively implement our plan,” Batra said.

The body might not be able to match the high fees drawn by Indian cricketers. However, the ones in the top grade will earn around Rs2 lakh per season. “Players’ performance will be taken into consideration while grading them and that will be reviewed each year,” Batra added.

Former coach Harendra Singh, part of the national set-up for long, welcomed the plan. “We need more people like Subrata Roy who are doing so much for Indian hockey. I hope that a minimum 60 per cent of the sponsorship amount is used for players’ welfare, including match fees, pension, development, etc,” Singh said. The Indian hockey team has generally struggled to get modern equipment and latest technology owing to lack of funds. It has had to depend on the sports ministry and the SAI to get the necessary clearances, which was a tedious process anyway.

With more money at HI’s disposal, it is hoped that this requirement will be taken care of without depending on government funds. “We need to spend on equipment and nutrition supplements, so very important in modern-day hockey. We also need to focus on development in the grassroots,” Singh said.