Indian men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton on Tuesday said he has got down to building a new core group of players keeping in mind the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The two-Test series against world champions and Olympic silver medallists Germany, starting in New Delhi on Wednesday, is a step in that direction.
Fulton has opted for a mix of youth and experience against Germany, handing debut to young midfielder Rajinder Singh and striker Aditya Arjun Lagale besides calling back players such as Mandeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh.
“If you look at it from now to the World Cup and now to LA (Los Angeles), we are just trying to open up the selection to pick a new core group that will take us from now to Word Cup and from World Cup to LA,” Fulton said at the pre-match press conference.
“So you are never out of the system in that sense. Now it’s opened up again and now we are giving guys opportunities.”
The matches against Germany will be played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Fulton rejected observations that hockey Test series have become irrelevant, saying any opportunity to play a quality side is always beneficial.
“It is always important to play Test matches, it is the test of where you are. It will be good for us, we have Rajinder and Aditya — two debutants — and we also want to see some of the other players who have come back.
“Varun (Kumar) and Dilpreet (Singh) are in good form at the moment. Unfortunately, Jugraj (Singh) got injured last week in training,” he said.
“Is it irrelevant? I think that’s not really the point. I think it’s an opportunity to test ourselves against the number two side in the world. We hope we can get two good results on home soil.”
International hockey is returning to the national capital after 10 years, and Fulton and India skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who will be playing his first match here, are excited about it.
The last time an international match took place here was the 2014 World League Final.
“It’s nice to be back. I was here to attend a function with Mr. Modi (PM Narendra Modi) after the Asian Games, but now now, to play a Test match against Germany, it has come full circle,” Fulton said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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