In its bid to keep the artistic flavour of the game intact, a field goal will be counted as two in the next year’s Hockey India League (HIL) as new rules and regulations take effect in season 4.
Apart from the goal-scoring system, which is the highlight of the new innovation, franchisee’s will also have 20, instead of the usual 24 players, in their squad. It will be a composition of 12 Indian and eight foreign players per side. The squad must have minimum of two goalkeepers sitting on the bench and all the players of 20-member squad will be mentioned in the match sheet and must be present at their respective team’s dug-out during the HIL matches. As per the new system, the HIL 2016 will be known as the most competitive and first of its kind in any hockey competition.