The first season of the Rupay Prime Volleyball League commences at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, from February 5 to 27 featuring seven franchisees — Calicut Heroes, Kochi Blue Spikers, Ahmedabad Defenders, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Chennai Blitz, Bengaluru Torpedoes and Kolkata Thunderbolts — and 24 matches in all.
Spectators are not allowed because of COVID with all teams already training in a bio-bubble.
In the inaugural match on Saturday, hosts Hyderabad will take on Kochi. Black Hawks will obviously look to the experience of attacker Amit Gulia expected to be ably supported by setters V. Hariharan and captain Vipul Kumar.
The internationals who add variety to the composition include Luis Antonio Arias Guzman (Venezuela) and Henry Bell (Cuba).
The rest of the squad includes Indians Rohit Kumar, George Antony, Anand K, Sudheer Shetty, John Joseph E.J., Jishnu P.V., Praful S. and S.V. Guru Prasanth.
For Kochi, Karthik Madhu, captain and central blocker for India in the last international tournament, will depend on the experienced middle-blocker Deepesh Kumar Sinha and internationals and attackers Colton Cowell and Cody Caldwell, both from the USA.
Hyderabad captain Vipul said being the only team with a foreign coach in the league, it would present a different brand of volleyball. Also with most players being of the same age and having adapted to the coaching techniques quickly, they would be hoping to surprise many.
The rest of the squad includes Raison Benet Rebello, Sethu T.R., Erin Varghese, Darshan S. Gowda, C. Venu, Abhinav B.S., Dushyanth G.N., Prashant Kumar Saroha, Asham A. and Abdul Raheem.
“We are moments away from a massive occasion not just in Indian volleyball, but in Indian sport overall,” Tuhin Mishra, co-founder and MD, Baseline Ventures, said.
Matches will be telecast live on Sony Ten1, Sony Ten 2 (Malayalam), Sony Ten3 (Hindi), Sony Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu).
Saturday’s schedule: Hyderabad Black Hawks vs Kochi Blue Spikers, 7.00 p.m.
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