After a disappointing Pro League campaign in Europe, the Indian men’s hockey team has returned to full-strength training with renewed focus. The players have been training in Bengaluru for the past two weeks as they prepare for the upcoming tour of Australia, keeping the Asia Cup in mind, which is scheduled next month in Rajgir. Although the squad for the Australia tour has already been finalized, trials for the Asia Cup will take place on Friday. Head coach Craig Fulton is set to finalise his 18-member squad for the World Cup qualifying tournament.
“It’s going good and it’s nice to have the India A group back as well. I expect good competition and we are excited about the Asia Cup, that’s the main priority for the year. We specifically chose Australia to tour for that reason (tougher opponents than the teams in Asia Cup) because we want to make sure we have covered all bases. To play a top team like Australia, from a physical and a tactical point of view, it will highlight quite quickly if we are on track or not,” said Fulton.
“It’s not always easy; we had a tough time when we went there the last time, but 3 to 4 months later, we beat Australia for the first time (in Olympics). That’s the ideal scenario, to play someone better than you and then close the gap between where you started and where you finished,” he added after the team’s training session on Tuesday.
The India A team also had mixed outcomes on its European tour, but Fulton emphasized that the results were part of a larger development framework. With the India A, it’s all about development. They are not there to win games against Holland, Belgium, and England. At the same time, we are looking at developing the next group of talented athletes, but they need good games, and they need to be tested. I think we really got a good balance of seeing that.
“We just want to create more depth because what happens now with the Under-21s? They finish the World Cup, they can’t come straight into the senior group, where do they go? This squad is for that and then it’s always really competitive. Whoever comes in is better than what’s currently going out and that’s how we are trying to manage that programme,” he added.
Fulton is also focused on preparing for India’s Asia Cup rivals and remains cautious about the unpredictability of participation
“I’m preparing for Pakistan, and that’s how we’re approaching it. The worst thing to do is not prepare, and if they arrive, then use the excuse, ‘Oh, we didn’t think they were coming,” he concluded.