Ireland hockey legend David Harte aiming for 'peak performances' in HIL

Irish hockey legend David Harte is gearing up for an intense six weeks of action in the revived Hockey India League (HIL), starting on 28 December.

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Harte was bought by Tamil Nadu Dragons for Rs 32 lakh at last month's auction and will play a key role in the team's journey in the tournament.

"I'm currently in the car here outside my own hockey club SV Kampong in six degrees and storm-like winds ready to go and have a goalkeeper session with my trainer Martijn Drijver. So trying to do as much as I can, even though our season only finished up, I think about 10 days ago, took a bit of time off. 2024 has been a heavy season, of course, for a lot of players. So now it's trying to find the right balance between, you know, being fresh, but also trying to get to the peak performances in the HIL as well," Harte said.

The 36-year-old is excited to be part of the HIL again, after playing for Mumbai Magicians and Dabang Mumbai from 2014 to 2017 in the previous version, and sees it as a financial opportunity to secure his family's future.