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When Craig Fulton took charge of the Indian men’s hockey team in April 2023, his first major assignment was the Hangzhou Asian Games. The South African delivered, guiding India to gold at the Games.
But this time, the challenge is tougher. In the space of just three weeks, India will compete in two marquee tournaments: the FIH World Cup in August and the Asian Games in September, which also serve as a qualification event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. With such a tight schedule, expecting the team to peak at both events will be demanding, admitted the 51-year-old head coach.
“It’s extremely difficult. But, we have to create more depth. Olympic qualification is crucial, but the World Cup also carries enormous history and emotion — the last time India won a (gold) medal was in 1975. Our objective is to perform well in both. Ideally, you need two groups — a core that plays both tournaments, supported by different combinations and fresh legs. Our aim is to peak in both tournaments. That’s what we’re working towards,” Fulton said.
In this interview, the head coach spoke about the importance of Hockey India League, and how players from HIL might be picked based on their performance in later games for the FIH Pro League matches in India and abroad among other things.
The World Cup in August 2026 and the Asian Games in September are only a few weeks apart. How will the team management handle the workload over such an extended period?
It’s extremely difficult. If you were in Europe and told teams that they had to play the World Cup and then, three weeks later, an Olympic qualifier like the European Games, I don’t think they would accept it. That’s how challenging it is.
There are only three weeks between the World Cup and the start of the Olympic qualifier. Our main focus, therefore, is to build more depth. That’s why we have the India-A team and why we sent them to the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, resting some senior players. We are trying to ensure our strongest team peaks for both tournaments, which is very difficult. So, we’ll need greater depth for the World Cup squad — not a weaker team, but one that allows us to manage workloads, while keeping in mind that the Asian Games is the qualifier for the LA 2028 Olympics. To peak in both tournaments. Ideally, that means having two groups–a core that plays both events, supported by fresh legs for each tournament. That’s the ideal scenario, and we’re still working towards it.
Is the Hockey India League (HIL) the right platform for young players to break into the national team now?
Identification already happens through the u-21s, the India A team and the senior team. What we’re looking for in the HIL is future potential. You can’t pick someone straight from here and throw him into a major tournament, but you also don’t want to lose talent. Once you identify it, the key questions are: where do we place that player, and how do we build the right structures around him so that he can perform.
Sanjay captained the Indian men’s team at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in November last year. How do you assess him?
He’s a versatile defender who can play in more than one position. He has played as a right-back and can also operate at centre-back. That’s the idea with many younger players coming through.
Several juniors from the FIH junior men’s World Cup did not play with the senior team but only against them in the SAI camp in Bengaluru. How will they merge when they eventually step up?
Yes, it’s not ideal. There were differences of opinion on which juniors should play in the junior team and who shouldn’t. That said, it’s encouraging that we now have another goalkeeper in Prince Deep Singh. We now have five goalkeepers—M.S. Mohith, Pawan, Suraj Karkera, Krishan Pathak and Prince–which is a healthy situation.
Are you already looking at players from HIL for the upcoming FIH Pro League in February 2026?
t’s still early days in the HIL. We know what we’re looking for. We’ll start assessing performances around games 10 to 15. If there’s consistency in specific positions and players are performing well, we’ll then name the squad for the FIH Pro League, which includes matches both in India and abroad.
Apart from Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh, how do you see the development of other drag-flickers?
We’ve been working on that well. At the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, we scored several penalty-corner goals through different players, though we didn’t score as many field goals. We now have more options. Once the group comes together, we’ll put a strong plan in place for penalty-corner variations and direct flicking. We’ve got real firepower in penalty corners.
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Olympic qualification is crucial, but World Cup also carries enormous history and emotion, says Craig Fulton
