Current Canada [ Images ] captain Ken Pereira is among 11 players to sign up for the $ 2 million World Series Hockey that will be held from February 29 to April 2 in eight Indian cities.

The others to sign up lately for the league, a joint initiative of Nimbus [ Get Quote ] Sport and Indian Hockey Federation, are Clive Terwin, Geowynne Kyle Gamiet, Lungile Tsolekile and Shanyl Balwanth from South Africa [ Images ] and Adam Froese, Antoni Kindler, Iain Smythe, Mark Pearson, Richard Hildred and Sukhwinder Singh [ Images ] Gabbar from Canada.

The line up from the African and North American regions includes the current Canadian captain and a set of players who have played close to 800 international matches amongst them, a release from WSH said on Monday.

"World Series Hockey is a huge platform to raise the profile of our sport globally. With the diverse mix of international players in the fray, this is a tournament that is truly global. India [ Images ] is a great place to play, the fans are really passionate about the sport. I have some good memories from playing in the WC and CWG in 2010," said Pereira.

Tsolekile, a forward and one of the four South Africans to sign up for WSH, said, "It's a great opportunity to be able to play in a tournament of the stature of WSH."

"For all of my South African counterparts, it is going to be a fantastic learning experience playing with a host of international stars on the same team. World Series Hockey will see a face-off between the best players from around the world and I am proud to be a part of this esteemed event," he added.

The WSH would involve 200 leading players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 59 matches. The eight venues for the inaugural edition of the league are Bengaluru [ Images ], Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi [ Images ], Jalandhar [ Images ], Mumbai [ Images ] and Pune.