Judge Us By: Craig Fulton, Tactical Discipline and the Indian Exorcism Quest 1975

Picking a team for the World Cup in India, where failure will attract immediate public outrage and institutional scrutiny, requires a different form of courage. Craig Fulton’s team selection it reflects a keen eye for both immediate needs and long-term stability. The inclusion of dynamic young talents like Yashdeep Siwach and speedster Aditya Arjun Lalage over established names has raised eyebrows in mainstream hockey circles, but Fulton’s reasoning remains pragmatic.

“Yashdeep is a versatile player who can easily slot into defense or midfield. His defensive strength is paramount,” notes Fulton. “With Aditya, we’re also eyeing the LA Olympics. Raj Kumar Pal is a proven, high-quality operator with huge tournament experience who remains in our reserve, but we need to give young guys like Aditya high tournament stakes to thrive. It’s about building real depth in the position.”

In the front line are seasoned fighters like Mandeep Singh, heading for his fourth World Cup along with Sukhjeet and Dilpreet. Adding intrigue to the front unit is Shilanand Lakrareturning to top form after an injury lay-off. For all the structure and composure, modern hockey sometimes needs raw pace with skill to match, and the coach sees in Lakra an introverted weapon capable of killing defenses. Although this is Lakra’s first World Cup, there is some pressure.

“I prefer the word ‘focus’ to ‘pressure.’ You don’t run from pressure; go for it,” Fulton says of Lakra. “Shilanand is an incredible talent – quick, unpredictable and skilled on both sides of his body. Off the field he is poised. He has moments of absolute brilliance and that is exactly what we are preparing him for.”

India, drawn in Pool D alongside England, Wales and arch-rivals Pakistan, enter the tournament after encouraging Pro League performances in Rotterdam and London, where they have claimed five wins from eight matches against top-flight opposition. On paper, India’s form suggests a smooth transition into crossover bikes. Still, Fulton refuses to let his team drift into premature complacency.

“We’re keeping an ideal and a realistic goal,” Fulton admits candidly. “Ideally, we want to win every tournament. Realistically, in terms of ranking, we’re seventh or eighth right now (8th in FIH). I think some analysts were giving us a 5% chance of winning. Perfect. That’s fine with us. We’re under the radar and trying to peak at the right time. Rankings don’t matter until the final whistle of the tournament. Judge us after the final whistle of the tournament.”

Adding to the complexity is the brutal international calendar. Within two weeks of the World Cup, India has to participate in the Asian Games, a high-stakes tournament that directly qualifies for the LA Olympics.

“If you told the European teams to play the World Cup and a fortnight later Olympic qualification, they would call you crazy,” laughs Fulton. “But with our India A and U-21 programmes, we have built a real conveyor belt of talent. We are actively closing the gap between the senior regulars and the next generation so that our intensity and fitness never dips, regardless of scheduling.” Fulton doesn’t want his players to get complacent at the World Cup anytime soon (Courtesy: PTI)

A recurring anxiety that surrounded India’s temperament in the big match was the heavy reliance on captain Harmanpreet Singh during penalty corners. When Harmanpreet’s strokes hit the backboard, India look unstoppable; when he is neutralized by enemy rushers, the Indian offense has historically come to a standstill. Fulton has spent the last eighteen months remediating this vulnerability.

“Defensive runners are so fast and well-protected now that scoring computers is incredibly difficult in world hockey,” notes Fulton. “Harman is a world-class operator who delivers at crucial moments but we cannot rely on just one man. We have developed four more capable options in Jugraj, Sanjay, Rajinder and Amit. We are expanding our arsenal so that the team can produce goals from multiple routes.”

By spreading the batting responsibilities across a five-man rotation, India are no longer dependent on just one individual at the top of the ‘D’. It’s another layer of Fulton’s obsession with removing chance from the equation.

Ever since Craig Fulton arrived on the scene, hope has been rising like a rising tide in Indian hockey circles. Not just because his resume carries a first-class pedigree, having served as an assistant coach to the formidable Belgium side that swept the Olympic and World Cup golds, but because Indian hockey has finally found an architect. For decades, the national team functioned as a brilliant but wildly volatile entity, bouncing uncontrollably between brilliance and confusion. Fulton arrived with a promising plan: structure, process, and the quiet tactical discipline needed to turn occasional flashes of artistry into lasting victories.

The returns have already proven tangible. The Olympic bronze along with gold medals at the Asian Games, Asia Cup and Asian Champions Trophy firmly re-established India’s dominance in the region. Still, the constant hunger remains. While Pro League campaigns continue to reflect tactical improvements rather than podium dominance, the ultimate goal looms like a Specter over Indian hockey: breaking a 51-year-old curse. Since 1975, when the famous winner Ashok Kumar sealed the gold in Kuala Lumpur, India have not reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

In Fulton, Ind., he has a thinker, the kind of coach who evaluates every inning before he steps on the field. He lives in Ireland, after playing for South Africa at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he faced the Dilip Tirkey-led Indian side, and now finds himself working alongside Tirkey, the current president of Hockey India. Fate has a subtle circular way of intertwining people in this sport. Fulton, unflappable under pressure, is the picture of composure and this is reflected in assembling a World Cup squad anchored by equal measures of defensive rigidity and lethal counter-attacking.

Critics have for years labeled Fulton’s tactical framework as too defensive, a perception the South African is quick to dispel by pointing to necessity rather than any form of timidity. Structure, in his eyes, is not about binding the team; it is the spring that initiates the attack.

“If you look at Spain when they won the World Cup, they only conceded one goal in the whole tournament. Once your heart is right defensively, you can attack from anywhere,” explains Fulton. “Our watchword is ‘press to counter’. We want to press from all sides – zone deep, half zone, high zone or man-to-man. It’s a different style than trying to win a chaotic 6-5 game. When we play with the intention of being organized defensively, we create a lot more counter-attacks. We’re one of the three best teams in the world at the moment in winning the ball back in the opponent’s half.”

This isn’t hockey driven by wild emotions; it’s hockey built on spatial awareness and quick execution. Where previous Indian sides succumbed to the pace dictated by the physically dominant European powers, Fulton’s system forces the opposition into narrow, claustrophobic channels, turning turn balls into instant counter-attacks. Fulton focuses on his defense to win matches (Courtesy: PTI)

Watching Fulton operate on the sidelines is like watching a master strategist at work, every tactic calculated, press patterns rehearsed, post-game analysis free of hyperbole and theatrics. Yet even for a coach consumed by the game twenty-four hours a day, finding the switch is essential to sustaining the grueling demands of international management.

“This work lives with me all the time,” Fulton reflects quietly. “The only time I really switch off is when I’m talking to my family back home in Ireland or when I manage to get away for an 18-hole round of golf. It gives me the mental reset I need.”

Hundreds of training hours, endless video sessions on opponent press structures and meticulous physical conditioning now converge on one field. As India prepares to take the field and challenge five decades of history, Fulton’s thinking remains crystal clear: talk is easy, process creates opportunity and the final judgment will deliver its verdict.

World Cup Team

Goalkeepers: Mohith HS, Suraj Karkera

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (c), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Yashdeep Siwach

Midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad

Forward: Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek

– The end

Published on:

22 Jul 2026 14:48 IST