The cream of Indian hockey will be seen in action when the Super League stage of the 61st Senior Nationals begins in Hyderabad on Friday.

Four institutional teams -- Air India [ Images ], Indian Oil Corporation [ Get Quote ], Punjab [ Images ] and Sindh Bank and Namdhari XI – will join the eight winners of the pre-quarter-final league in the Super League, where 12 teams are divided into four pools.

On the opening day, Indian Airlines will take on Railways, Punjab will play Uttar Pradesh [ Images ], Chandigarh will lock horns with Bengal and Services will clash with Karnataka [ Images ].

In the next two days, the top eight teams will play the four institutional teams and the topper of each pool will play the semi-finals on March 29.

The final will be played on March 30.

While in-form teams like Indian Airlines, Railways, Services, Chandigarh and Karnataka will persist with their experience, the four institutional teams are expected to give a tough time to the qualifiers.

The Pools:

Pool A: Indian Airlines, Railways, Air India.

Pool B: Punjab and Sindh Bank, Bengal, Chandigarh.

Pool C: Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Indian Oil Corporation.

Pool D: Services, Karnataka and Namdhari XI.