KOLKATA: Indian men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton sounded quite impressed with the team’s ‘ambition’ as it prepares for the FIH Pro League opener against Spain at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
“They have embraced the new Indian way that we are trying to play and also deal with the expectations from a top team which is always to win and always be at our best which is of course always not possible. But the ambition to do that and be better always is there,” Fulton said on Friday.
The team will be playing at home for the first time since winning the Asian Champions Trophy last year in Chennai and the coach is looking to use the tournament to get the squad sorted for Paris Olympics. “It is the home stretch but it’s also about us confirming our Olympic squad. In Valencia and South Africa we tried to do that too. Before Valencia we didn’t have much training because of the National Games and National Championship but South Africa trip definitely went in the right direction,” he added.
While in Valencia the team took part in a five-nation tournament, in South Africa, India played three friendly matches against France and the Netherlands and one official match against the hosts.
The coach has arrived in Bhubaneswar with 29 players but there are 24 in the squad for Pro League and he is more than keen on getting a look at everybody over the eight matches as they take on Spain, Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands twice — first in Bhubaneswar and then in Rourkela.
While confirming the squad will be his main priority, the South African pointed out some other areas too that he wants to work on during the Pro League encounters. “We want to develop our game, develop our playing style, and then will come the individual players and the combinations,” said Fulton.
The coach also wants the team to perform better in the attacking third but his biggest priority remains the defence, something that he has always harped on. “The main thing is the defending. We have to be able to defend and then counter attack.”
And playing a major role in that area will be captain Harmanpreet Singh. Speaking on the upcoming encounters, he said, “We have some big matches coming up ahead of the Olympics and we will look to keep up our good show. Also we will focus on the areas that need to be improved as the coach said.”
It’s a challenging situation: Fulton on Varun
As the Indian team prepares for FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar, the rape allegation against Varun Kumar and his absence from the squad has made it a tricky situation for coach Fulton. “Of course it’s a challenging situation but at the same time you have got to have plans in place. So if someone is injured, what would you do? What are the plans in place in the event of an injury? So, Varun is not here. What is the plan? There always is a plan for anyone that gets injured for a long time... (be it) striker, midfielder or defender.”
