The Indian men’s hockey team has had a rare long break in recent months, last stepping on the field for a tournament at the Asian Champions Trophy in September, barring the two games against Germany in New Delhi. That luxury hasn’t been available to coach Craig Fulton, who took a developmental side to Europe in November besides scouting for new talent at the National Championships. The South African is now looking to further widen his pool of resources at the Hockey India League as he sets sight on ending the medal drought at the 2026 World Cup.
How’s the Hockey India League been so far and how important do you think it’s going to be in your search for new talent?
It’s been good. It’s still early days, just a few games in so far but I think maybe, by the second or third week, we’ll start to really see who’s taken the opportunity, improved from Game 1 to 5 or 6. But to see all of them get picked up and playing and getting exposed to the foreigners, and obviously working with the foreign coaches, it will be very helpful.
But it’s not just the junior or sub-junior guys, it’s also very important for some of the senior guys, the younger ones that have just come into the core group, to make their mark on the tournament and in the teams and be leaders. But I suppose for the sub-junior guys, it’s really amazing. It’s a great opportunity for them but I think they also have to lower their expectations and really just enjoy it because then you’ll see the best of them. If they put too much pressure on themselves, if they freeze and don’t really play, it’s not gonna help them or the team
Quite a few from the current side may not make it to LA28. How do you see this team moving from here in the next few years, starting 2025?
I think it’s all about milestones. You come from Paris with a successful campaign, it’s a great achievement but at the same time, we’re a little bit disappointed because we know we were close. I think the World Cup and Asian Games are the next big ones on the horizon but you still got to qualify and then before that is the Pro League. I think once we start to shape our team with LA in mind, you’ve still got to get through the two milestones because there will be no LA if we don’t do this part properly, there won’t be a competitive team if we don’t choose the right squad and if we don’t have depth in every position, then we’re relying on the same people all the time
So it’s always about building depth in the positions that maybe we don’t have a lot in. That doesn’t mean the youngsters are just going to play; it means we’ve identified them and now they need to come and train and then it could take them six months to a year to get up to speed because they don’t have the international experience.
That’s the main focus, to try and get the right people. We know what we’re looking for and now are we trying to identify and see it if you fit the bill.
You took a developmental side to Europe recently. Where does that team rank in the scheme of things, what exactly are you looking at from a group like that?
Well, I think from an Indian perspective, it sits in a group that’s older than the Under-21, because there’s a lot of those guys that played the Under-21 World Cup but then weren’t able to make our main squad because we were building into the Olympic year and the squad actually got smaller, not bigger.
So a lot of guys then went back and played domestic and then their levels dropped off. So now we have invited them all back and identified quite a big squad and selected a group from that to go to Europe, knowing the HIL was next. So now we have our normal core group and we have this Developmental or Indian A Team. Who else shines that we don’t know about? It’s quite a nice collective of the group we know about and the players that fell away but are still here. We’re looking at the Under-21 as well but they are in their own system. So we are excluding the Under-21s per se and then looking for the next group of players.
The team hasn’t really played much since the Olympics and the ACT. What’s the programme going to be like going forward?
Well, for 2025, to hit the nail on the head, is to be on the podium at the Pro League. The objective is to qualify for the World Cup at the Asia Cup that we’re hosting, then you’ve got this tournament now for choosing the right squad, getting the right team on the field.
The challenge we have is that some of our players will play all 12 games (in HIL), then there’s 5-6 days rest, then I only have them for seven days and then we have eight Pro League games in 12 days. That’s not normal.
So at the expense of getting the HIL, which is important, we sacrifice training time for the Pro League, which is not great. But at least they’re playing hockey here and that’s why I’m really looking forward to this tournament, to select the right squad. There will be a bit of rest in March and then back up for the Nationals in April. May-June is Pro League again in Europe, then hopefully New Zealand will come for some test matches in preparation for the Asia Cup. After that, possibly Azlan Shah and another tour in line but it’s not confirmed.
Given the schedule, are there any plans to rotate players regardless of the results to ensure we have the best available for the major events?
Sure, as long as the priorities are met and the priorities are to qualify for the World Cup. The challenge that we have is, like I said, the preparation time for the first Pro League. But we have a lot of time for the second. So it might be more of a senior team coming into the first block and then more of an experimental thing towards the end. That’s the plan, so long as we have everyone fit and healthy. If we don’t, then things change.
There’s always pressure on the Indian coach. After Paris, has it increased now with higher expectations?
I just think it’s more realistic because the team’s competitive and the fans want to change the colour of the medal. We wanted to do that as well, we really tried but I think everyone knows that this team can play and it has a new character and it’s a special moment.
I’m really proud because it’s such a just reward for the staff and players. To look back, what we went through to actually do what we did in Paris, with the circumstances we found ourselves in. And with no excuses – that’s how the cards were dealt and then to come that close in the semifinal, you are playing with one man less and then the way we finished, very proud.
But the other thing is the World Cup pressure – India last won a medal there in 1975. And the Asian Games is three weeks later, it’s a totally different dynamic. If we had to say to the Europeans ‘you’re playing the World Cup then three weeks later, you’re playing the European Championships’, they would say it’s not normal. You are trying to focus on the World Cup and you’re also trying to peak for the Asian Games. That’s why you need depth, that’s why this whole programme is about having more players.
If you had to look back at one performance that you would be proud of, what would it be?
See, it will always be hard to top the Olympics quarterfinal (against GB) because it was a one-off game. You make one mistake and you are out. It put us up for anything. But the Australia game in the pool was very special, that set us up to do what we eventually did. To beat them after so many years, we were ready to win that game however. After that, whatever happened, we were ready to play.
