Resurrection is simply put, Indian hockey coach Craig Fulton’s biggest job on his hands. In fact, he would never face such a big challenge in his career. Indian hockey, already known to him and to countless people who follow the sport, knows in its own demise that it is a sporting labyrinth – a complex structure, winding passages, some with dead ends, but often designed to confuse not only themselves but also many people.
Still, when it works, it leaves you with a sense of wonder and play; like Shilanand Lakra’s goal against Australia in the 4th quarter in the recent Pro League match in Hobart, the enterprising piece, apart from Lakra’s imaginative strike, was the surge started by Hardik through Abhishek, Poovanna with Lakra’s screamer at the end. It is exactly what Fulton and Indian hockey need now. Brick by brick, layering. Especially after the demolition that happened in Rourkela. And to a lesser extent in Hobart.
Let’s make one point right here: It wasn’t a one-off or a series of hasty results that Argentina scored eight goals! Even the goal total in Rourkela, 5-19, was not an aberration. These numbers were increasing. After eight games, the numbers aren’t pretty either –
- Played 8 (Hobart/Rourkela)
- Regulation time wins 0
- Victory in Shoot-out1
- Losses in regulation 5
- Shootout losses 2
- Goals for 11
- Goals against 25
Fortunately, the silver lining was two regular-time draws against Spain and Australia in the last two games, which ended 1-1. After the implosion in Rourkela, no one would be surprised if they rolled over in Hobart. However, the team persevered, producing a playbook that made them unbeaten in Asia and secured them Olympic bronze in 2024; a team struggling against England played 43 minutes with ten men and then in the 3rd/4th match defeated the challenge of Spain.
India finished their Hobart leg of the Pro League on a high (Credit: Hockey India)
That resilience needed to show its face. Hope is not a tsunami. It doesn’t start with the flood. It’s a drop, a trek, bleeding fingers, bruised wrists and scraped elbows, inch by inch, until you start to remember every rock, every surface and every little crevice you “stumbled upon” on the way up. Only then will you rediscover what made you good, better and sometimes exceptional.
“All’s well that ends well” would be the perfect ending for the Indian hockey team after their last match, a shootout win against Australia. But the truth is far from this fact. To understand the resurgence, we must first look at the wreckage of the Pro League.
It will not be out of the question to say that India were not just on a losing streak, but there was a decay that needed to be stopped. Right after the Hockey India League, the team regrouped and played the Pro League during the week, which is when many may say it wasn’t enough to bring back the ‘team’ feel. Still, you don’t just lose your bearings in the world of professional sports.
But there was a sense that the team had suffered a collective amnesia. Not only have they lost shape and structure on the field, but the players have also lost the power of expression. Against Argentina, that manic game, the team seemed to be playing in a fog in an oppressively gray tone.
By seven goals at the break, they roamed the pitch like souls. It’s another wonder that they mustered what they could and avoided a score line that historically would have been a marker for generations. Now after Hobart, the numbers, if linked with the corporation, would ensure the shutters were closed – he scored nine goals, conceded 25, a staggering -16 goal difference.
There is a paradox of success and dysfunction in sports. And just as we are used to understanding that time moves forward, we assume that the team is either winning or learning. India, on the other hand, got into a loop of hesitation; bungled back passes, heavy midfield touches, one-dimensional forward play, lack of aerials, defenders caught in no-man’s land, the goalkeeper’s oblivion that flicks can also be carried through the air – this single insane 8-0 loss accounted for almost a third of their total goals conceded in the first half of the season.
Mentally, it will take some turning. The third quarter against Australia in the last game in Hobart was the ultimate symptom of this rot. Jeremy Hayward’s goal from the sixth penalty corner was not a purely tactical failure; it was a location crisis. Watching Suraj Karkera lose track of the posts, his brooding left block trailing just a fraction too late, was a reminder of just how thin the line is for escaping the dungeon. It’s a damning accusation and an unfair one, but when goalkeepers are out of position, the team loses the game; the 2018 World Cup quarter-final against Holland is a classic reminder of this. India were lackluster in the Pro League matches in Rourkela and Hobart (Courtesy: Hockey India)
In comparison, Hobart has seen some resilience. Glimpses of the past, like burning embers, shrouded in ashes but alive. Dysfunction is a strange creature: it often harbors the seeds of return. Every match, game can never be about sublime skills, shadow dribbling or those sashaying moves, they need a deep-rooted defensive mentality; the boxer on the ropes who takes and deflects punches and waits patiently for a counter punch.
In the last two games against Spain and Australia, India settled into a familiar gait – head down, bat firmly held. They sat long and defended bravely, reminding us of the discipline and resistance found in a compact and solid work ethic.
Hardik controls the narrative in the midfield, Abhishek relies on his pace and control, Jarmanpreet widens the channel up front, Rohidas embraces the space around him, Shilanand Lakra hopes he understands that it’s not just skill but accuracy that makes you a world-class bagger, Maninder cutting his way through defences, all this showed accuracy.
Against Australia in the last game somehow after missing consecutive PCs and conceding one after three seconds, India finally tasted victory. It came in a shootout where Mohith Shashikumar came up trumps, effectively knocking Australia out of the equation. The revenue may seem small, but against the backdrop of the rumblings in Rourkela, when even writing an epitaph seemed like a waste of time, it is undoubtedly a real achievement.
The mechanics may be confusing at this point, but the intent is clear: the climb back to where the team was starts now. And it’s a grueling climb – thin air, dog-like teams keeping India at their heels, unforgiving terrain and no room for manic dips. Look for profits on the World Cup and retaining the Asian Games gold goes beyond survival mode. The only currency that works in world hockey, on any part of the field, for sixty minutes, is precision and discipline.
WHAT’S NEXT IN FULTON AND INDIA?
A 4-nation tournament may be held in Malaysia (March) where India will face Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand. Fulton could, by all accounts, create a unit that could largely play in the World Cup. And then there’s the Pro League stage in June. Until then, there is the mess to organize, the minds to sort, the brands to dig deep and the unified philosophy we saw glimpses of, the way both Wednesdays opened and closed with the pulse of the match. They were moments of absolute joy. But to create something lasting at the World Cup, 51 years since we reached the semi-finals, the visceral moments cannot be interrupted. It must be systemic.
The “long way back” is no longer just a metaphor for failure; it could be Fulton’s map to a brighter future. A shootout win against Australia could trigger the memory cells to activate the feeling of victory. Now they need to get past the surface dazzle to arrive at something deeper
– The end
Published on:
28 Feb 2026 12:46 IST
