The second season after the return of the Hockey India League (HIL) from a seven-year hiatus has done more than revive a marquee domestic competition.
It has revealed a clear strategic divergence in how franchises are choosing to play, build, and win. At the heart of this contrast lie two women’s teams led by Indian coaches JSW Soorma Hockey Club under Jude Menezes and Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers under Deepak Thakur whose sharply different philosophies now define the league’s most compelling tactical battle.
Both franchises operate within the same competitive ecosystem, yet their approaches could not be more distinct. Soorma represent expansion, structure, and attacking ambition. The Bengal Tigers, meanwhile, are built around pragmatism, defensive certainty, and ruthless efficiency in moments that matter.
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Jude Menezes, a former Indian international goalkeeper with extensive overseas coaching experience, has brought a modern, width-driven attacking system to JSW Soorma. Influenced heavily by his years in New Zealand and Japan including leading Japan to the Paris Olympics Menezes believes in stretching defenses, creating numerical overloads, and generating chances through intelligent movement rather than brute force.
Deepak Thakur, an Arjuna Award winner and one of India’s most clinical finishers during his playing days, operates from a very different playbook. His Bengal Tigers are built on game management. For Thakur, possession, circle entries, and territorial dominance mean little unless they translate into goals. His teams are structured to absorb pressure, defend set-pieces aggressively, and strike decisively when opportunities arise.
Soorma’s Wide-Build Blueprint
The hallmark of Soorma’s game is their “wide build-up” system. Instead of traditional touchline-hugging wingers, Menezes deploys inside forwards who begin wide but consistently cut into central half-spaces. Players like Sonam and Mumtaz Khan have thrived in this role, using diagonal runs to destabilise defensive structures and attack the circle from higher-probability shooting angles.
This approach has made Soorma one of the most entertaining attacking sides in the league. Ball circulation through midfield triangles often orchestrated by Salima Tete allows the team to pull defences wide before exploiting gaps inside the circle. The result is sustained pressure, frequent circle penetrations, and long spells of territorial control.
However, this dominance has exposed a critical flaw.
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Despite their ability to earn penalty corners in volume, Soorma’s conversion rate has been alarmingly low. In the 2025–26 season opener against the Bengal Tigers, they won 13 penalty corners from 28 circle entries and scored none. That inefficiency proved decisive in a 1–0 defeat.
In modern hockey, where set-pieces account for nearly half of all goals, this is a crippling weakness. Even with international flickers in their squad, Soorma have struggled with timing, variation, and execution. The absence of a consistently reliable drag-flicker has meant their expansive field play often goes unrewarded on the scoreboard.
Bengal Tigers: Pragmatism Perfected
If Soorma represent opportunity creation, the Bengal Tigers embody conversion. Under Deepak Thakur, they have assembled arguably the league’s most robust defensive unit, particularly on penalty corners. Their first rusher, Lalremsiami, has been exceptional charging down flicks with speed and bravery, reducing angles, and applying relentless psychological pressure on opposition shooters.
This defensive resilience allows the Tigers to remain composed even when under sustained attack. Against Soorma, they conceded territory but never control. They defended 13 penalty corners without cracking, trusting their structure and discipline.
At the other end, the Tigers need very little to decide matches.
Agustina Gorzelany, widely regarded as the league’s premier drag-flicker, exemplifies the Tigers’ philosophy. Signed for a significant fee, she repaid that investment by converting the only penalty corner her team earned in the opener a powerful strike that proved decisive. This mirrors the Tigers’ approach in the men’s league, where Jugraj Singh’s drag-flicking propelled them to the title the previous season. The message is clear: in high-pressure tournaments, one perfect set-piece can outweigh twenty circle entries.
Indian Coaches, Global Ideas
That both teams are led by Indian coaches is significant. Menezes and Thakur represent two equally valid pathways for Indian coaching evolution. One prioritizes tactical innovation and long-term player development. The other focuses on results, efficiency, and tournament nous.
Soorma’s players have spoken about the freedom and clarity Menezes provides, particularly young attackers finding confidence in defined roles. The Tigers, meanwhile, thrive on clarity of responsibility defend fiercely, execute set-pieces, manage the clock. As the HIL season unfolds, the key question is whether Soorma can add a clinical edge to their attacking architecture, or whether the Tigers’ reliance on defensive perfection and drag-flick brilliance will continue to deliver results.
In this contrast between ambition and efficiency, the revived Hockey India League has found its defining rivalry one that reflects not just how hockey is played, but how it is understood in modern India.
Credit Tanuj Birua
