AP
 
New Delhi, Nov 12: India's field hockey league will trial a replacement for the traditional penalty flicks used to decide drawn matches.

"A new innovation called 'one-on-one' will replace the traditional penalty flick in penalty shootouts during the Premier Hockey League in January,'' K.P.S. Gill, president of the Indian Hockey Federation, said Friday.

"The penalty shootout for determining the fate of deadlocked contests will feature a striker starting his attack from the 25-yard line,'' Gill told reporters.

"The attacker will be given eight seconds to dribble into the circle and shoot past the goalkeeper,'' he said. ''Five one-on-one attempts will replace the penalty tiebreakers.''

Gill said this new innovation had been debated by the world's field hockey officials, but would be tried out for the first time in India's league.

The Indian league, which started in 2005, will feature seven teams in its third season.

In the previous two tournaments, the league has introduced several new concepts to the traditional rules such as splitting the 70-minute playing time into four quarters and providing basketball-like timeouts.

Cricket's third-umpire concept was introduced in the Indian league earlier this year. The successful experiment was soon adopted by the International Hockey Federation when it introduced a third, off-field umpire to back up the two on-field officials during the men's World Cup in September.

The third umpire has the facility of TV replays if the on-field umpires seek assistance in deciding tight situations.