Indian Men’s Hockey Team Focused on Putting ‘Consistency’ Template in Place as Celebrations Dust Settle
The dust has more or less settled on the Indian men’s hockey team’s Olympics bronze medal-winning celebrations and it’s time to build on the Olympic bronze medal win at Paris – the Craig Fulton-coached Indian men’s hockey team would be looking to put the ‘consistency’ template in place as they compete as reigning champions in their first international tournament after Olympics at the 8th Asian Champions Trophy at Hulunbuir, China.
Back-to-back Olympic bronze medals have caused tongues wagging about how the Blueshirts can go beyond the ‘bronze medal barrier’ with a coveted gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The curiosity is stoked about how what kind of preparations can be an ‘ideal’ one so that the team is at peak form for the showpiece event four years down line. “It’s tough to suss out which phase of preparations teams around the world are at in the lead up to the Olympics. Some teams would be busy with their club hockey events, while there would be teams who would be engaged in high-intensity training. You are really not sure how teams are getting prepared for the Olympics,” says Indian men’s team coach Craig Fulton in an exclusive chat with Hockey Passion.
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The rich legacy Indian hockey have, and the massive fan following for the sport ensures the weight of ‘expectations’ can get overwhelming on the national team. “There was pressure to change the colour of the medal from bronze to gold or silver at Paris. It’s all part of the game and living up to expectations is always a never-ending challenge for teams and we would all have to live with it,” says Fulton, who interestingly made his international debut for South Africa against India at the 1996 Indira Gandhi Gold Cup Tournament at New Delhi.
The confabulation veers towards how top teams such as Australia, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium are exuding ‘more respect’ for the Indian team than before. “We don’t want to focus on how our opponents perceive us, but one thing is for sure – any team can underestimate us at their own peril and we are always going to come hard on them,” opines the 49-year-old two-time Olympian.
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The blockbuster win over Australia was obviously one of the high points of our Paris Olympic journey. “Three years back at the Tokyo Olympics, India were handed a massive 1-7 defeat by Australia. At Paris, India showed they have made significant progress and learnt their lessons really well from that crushing defeat, and beat Australia 3-2 – We could have taken a 4-1 lead but for a goal disallowed – the first Olympic win over the Kookaburras in 52 years is indeed a big deal,” Fulton shares his perspective, bubbling with excitement.
The Indian men’s hockey team features several players, who would get into the early or mid-thirties by the time 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is around. The team would have quite a few ageing players in the midfield and deep defence – former captain Manpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas would turn 36 and 35, respectively, Jarmanpreet Singh and current captain Harmanpreet Singh would turn 32. Even the forwardline have a few players who would be in their thirties. Lalit Upadhyay would turn 34, while both Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh would turn 33, respectively. “We do realize that some players of the current setup would in their early or mid-thirties by the 2028 Olympics. We want to keep all options open for now – the idea is to induct more youngsters to spread the selection net wider amidst the current team members and see how things pan out. We should have a broader picture by the 2026 World Cup or 2026 Asian Games, which are the guys we want to take to Los Angeles,” the soft-spoken South African makes his point.
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Skipper Harmanpreet Singh has been outstanding at the 2024 Paris Olympics not just manning the deep defence, but also firing the rockets from the shorties. The Indian team think-tank would be key to shore up their drag-flicking options. ” Harmanpreet has been doing a great job with his drag-flicking, but it important not to place heavy reliance on one player. We have four-five options now – Jugraj Singh is shaping up well and Amit Rohidas has all the experience. Among the youngsters, we have the drag-flicking forward Araijeet Singh Hundal as well as junior team lad Amir Ali. Of course, these two youngsters would need more exposure to get better,” quips Fulton, who is fast developing a penchant for Indian food. “I love to gorge on Butter Chicken and Chilli Prawn as a way to unwind like I play golf – you would see me regularly at the KGA.”
Fourteen months in the India coach job, Fulton has picked up some Hindi words which he uses during training sessions. “I have picked up some Hindi but my favourite would be ‘Aaram Se (Take it easy) with the boys,’ he grins firing a parting shot.
