2013 Hockey India League players' auction for an Indian player was 2,800 and for overseas player was 5,000 under which franchise owners could not bid. The franchise owners made silent bids for each of the five marquee players before the actual auction begun. Hockey India then revealed which marquee player will lead which franchise based on the maximum bids by all the owners. Each team's marquee player got a contract worth at least 115 per cent of the highest successful bid for a player of that team in the auction if the silent bid is not worth more than this amount. Sandeep Singh was bought by
Sandeep Singh Indian Oil. Sandeep's international debut was in January 2004 in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He took over as the captain of the Indian national team in January 2009, and Rajpal Singh succeeded him later in 2010. Singh is a well known drag-flicker. At a time he was said to have the best speed in the world in drag flick (speed 145 km/h). Under his captaincy, the Indian team managed to clinch the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2009 after defeating Malaysia in the finals at Ipoh. India won the title after a long wait of 13 years.