After another Asian Champions Trophy title, Indian hockey team driven by greater challenges

Indervir Grewal

Chandigarh, August 14

It would not be very constructive to read too much into India’s triumph in the Asian Champions Trophy. Apart from an obvious morale boost before the Asian Games, the title victory tells very little about the team’s progress during its transitional period.

India are still just months into their journey under a new coach, Craig Fulton, who has taken it upon himself to bring major changes to the team’s playing style.

After a mixed bag of results in the Pro League in Europe, Fulton has won his first title with the team, but at a tournament that has little context. The six-team tournament, held irregularly since its inception in 2011, has been scheduled at odd windows. It is either seen as a preparatory tournament before major events — in the case of the 2013, 2018 and 2023 editions — or an afterthought — when it was held almost immediately after the Olympics in 2012, 2016 and 2021. In 2013, India had even fielded the junior team as the event preceded the Junior World Cup.

This time, the tournament was held too close to the Asian Games, raising concerns about the players not peaking at the right time going into a major event. As the Asian Games title also guarantees an Olympics berth, the pressure on Fulton to deliver in Hangzhou would be immeasurably greater. It was evident that he was not happy with the timing of the event, indirectly telling the administrators to “not have back-to-back tournaments”. “If you said to me to win the Asian Games and lose this final, I would obviously vouch for winning the Games,” Fulton said.

World domination

Also, a victory in Asia does not give Fulton a true picture of his team’s progress. Motivated by aspirations of world-level titles, continental domination does not figure very high on India’s priority list anymore.

To be fair, India have been the most consistent side in the continent, which is reflected in their best-ever world ranking of No. 3. They have rarely lost to an Asian opponent in the pool stages in the last decade. However, it is India’s inability to get over the line in crunch knockout matches that has kept them from winning more titles in Asia.

Fulton admits that making the Indian players mentally stronger will be his biggest challenge. Therefore, he would be pleased by the fighting spirit shown by his team in the final, winning 4-3 after being two goals down.

The South African, though, also realises that it would take much more than improving the players’ mental strength to guide the team to a world-level title, a reason why he decided to change India’s playing style.

The magnitude of the challenge he has taken up — of adding variety to India’s game — means it would be irrational to find any meaning in a victory that has come so early in his process and against teams ranked way below India. This victory, though uplifting, does not guarantee India a title at the Asian Games. Therefore, even if his team falters at the Asian Games, it is imperative to give Fulton a longer leash as his target is much higher and his plans long-term.

Why Fulton has his work cut out

India were served well by their one-directional, one-paced approach in attack under coaches Sjoerd Marijne and Graham Reid. Right from the time Marijne rang the changes on the playing style in 2017, India started finding success.

Their aggressive pressing and quick transition from defence to attack made India a dangerous side, especially against lower-ranked opponents. But top teams found a way to sidestep India’s charge and puncture their defence when their guard fell.

Reid honed this approach by instilling greater discipline in defence and adding unpredictability to their attack, leading India to the Olympics bronze. The team, though, could not replicate that success at the World Cup as the high-intensity system is physically and mentally taxing.

Craig Fulton wants to add variety to India’s game, which would make the team adaptable to different situations. He wants India to take a more contained approach, frustrating their opponents with a compact defence and then hitting on the counter.

A bigger challenge, though, would be to make India play the possession-based hockey Fulton wants. It is one aspect of India’s game that even Reid wanted to change. By building attacks more patiently, a team can dominate possession and dictate the pace of the game.

What Fulton wants requires not only a high fitness level but also great tactical maturity, which means it could take some time before the results are visible. The new style, though, has potential for even greater success.