Interview Harmanpreet Singh & Craig Fulton | ‘As a team we have seen every situation, handled it together’
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India hockey captain Harmanpreet and coach Fulton talk about the dynamics within the set-up, the learnings from a poor World Cup, a rise the rankings and what an Olympic medal would mean to them and to the game that once people thronged to watch
Harmanpreet and Fulton.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
For most teams, the Olympics is a four-year cycle — from selections to management to calendar and targets. Craig Fulton had five months to help the Indian men’s hockey team qualify for the Olympics and, when the players step on to the turf for their opening game on Sunday, would have been in the hot seat for exactly 15 months.
For the Indians, though, it’s par for the course. The team and the sport has been through so many different coaches and styles over the years that the players auto-adjust to every new change. Excerpts from a freewheeling chat with Fulton and captain Harmanpreet Singh, the duo in charge of Indian hockey’s fortunes in Paris:
You have been working together for just over a year. Can you explain this partnership, the equation between the coach and the captain?
Harmanpreet: He’s like a big brother and from Day One, we have had open discussions on every situation with the team. The trust is very high. Sometimes players are not very comfortable approaching the coach directly. As captain, it’s my job to be put things in front of the coach and be a bridge so he knows what’s happening.
Fulton: Yeah, I think it’s not easy being captain of the Indian men’s hockey team at the best of times. So my job is to make his job easier and I think that’s all based on trust. Once you have that, you can be honest and then you can move mountains. It does take a while to get to that and I think we are there.
There’s nothing we don’t discuss, for good or bad. I think we’ll be lifelong friends and that’s a positive for me.
Are there things that you try to keep within the group?
Harmanpreet: I don’t think me or any player has even been less than honest in our interactions with the media. But yes, sometimes it’s not possible. There’s some things we have to hold back, you know what I mean? Because it’s not easy doing what we do.
Fulton: The expectation is through the roof. The possibility of always staying at your peak is not realistic. But we have a good environment and a good staff and we look for support around. All the athletes. We want that open, honest environment where, if there are problems, we discuss openly, and we’ve got a good leadership group.
From Tokyo to Paris, how has the journey been as a player and a leader?
Harmanpreet: As a team, we have seen every situation and handled it together so leadership is not the responsibility of one player – you struggle as a team and achieve as a team. Definitely, there was a difficult period (during the World Cup) but then there was the Asian Champions Trophy and the Asian Games where we did very well. I think we are very close to what we want to achieve in major tournaments.
As a captain, I think the big change is you have more responsibilities and need to talk more, be a good communicator and guide the team. I usually like to work more and talk less but as a leader I need to connect more with every player, make sure everyone is comfortable. And stay calm – the more calm you are on ground, the easier it is to handle situations and that’s something I have developed a lot — that understanding helps on the field.
And as a person?
Harmanpreet: Well, I have become a father so patience levels have skyrocketed! But seriously, as a senior player and with growing maturity, you learn to handle different situations and play smartly. That is something I have particularly worked on as an individual. I think I have grown a lot as a person – built the ability to listen and the understanding that, regardless of your position in the team, you cannot always be right so you need to listen first, then react.
A lot of people have said that this team for Paris is a ‘safe team’, there’s no X-factor. How do you respond?
Fulton: It’s what we’ve decided as a group. What strengths we have in the squad, what do we need for who we playing against, how do we play our best hockey? I think when we have the chemistry of those players playing together, it’s a really good balance in attack and defence. And obviously going to Olympics, where you play with one player less and to go to the final, you have to play 8 games in 12 days, so there’s a very big conditioning element to it as well.
You need the best group of guys that love working for and with each other. Because ultimately, that’s what it’s going to come down to. If you want to do something special, you’ve to do more than just your own role, to cover someone else’s mistakes and that’s where I think this is the best mix. The individuals are there but when you put them all together and they really commit, that’s when special things happen.
Do rankings matter? Is India the seventh best team in the world?
Fulton: Rankings are there for periods of time. Where we are now, that’s where we ranked after the Pro League. Anytime you play someone higher, you get more points; you lose to someone ranked below, you drop places. So ranking, for me, it’s just a snapshot in time. It doesn’t mean anything.
Right now, probably yes, that’s where we are and it’s not ideal. We don’t want to be there. But we had 6 draws in Pro League, that’s 12 points gone, that’s a lot. If we had 10 more points, we would have won. That’s how close it is in that space.
The 2023 World Cup was one of the worst periods for you. Are you in a better place now in terms of handling the pressure?
Harmanpreet: The responsibility to score is there but it is not a pressure. We have Amit (Rohidas), Sanjay for penalty corners so we do have variations that we have not revealed. I don’t think many teams have seen Sanjay flicking, we have that advantage and he has the opportunity to prove himself. Just like defence starts from the forward line, it’s the same with PC – it starts with the pushers, then the stopper and then come the flickers. We are working on all aspects, a faster push and cleaner stop, to get that extra second to flick, which can be very important.
Did you feel that nervous energy before the Olympics started?
Fulton: For sure. Because if I didn’t, I’d be dead! I want to do well, I care, it’s important to me that we put ourselves in the best position to perform. I think and delegate a lot, we come up with a game-plan and then we need to connect to it. Once that’s done, I feel a lot better. But that’s only for the first 10 minutes – you could be 3-0 up or down. I have been long enough in this game that nothing surprises me any more.
On your best day, you could have the best game and lose 1-0; on your worst, you could win 1-0. At the same time, I don’t believe in luck in that sense. The more you plan, prepare, practice, the more chances you’ll get.
We generally don’t see either of you getting worked up during games. Do you get angry?
Fulton: Sure. I try not to, because there’s only a finite amount of time to get a result, but sometimes if the boys are a little below the standards we have set and I come in with a red face, there would be a reaction. But there’s a balance between understanding what’s going on and how close to the way we want to play. The challenges in Paris will be about playing and adapting to things going our way and things going against us and how we respond. But when we have our backs against the wall and it really counts, they jump another level and that’s what we’re planning.
Harmanpreet: Sometimes you have to. But anger or communication, you have to be smart in handling players because everyone is different. It’s lot more common in practice, though. Because during training we can push each other and challenge as much as possible. But I don’t think anyone gets abusive in our team. – sab bahut decent, sanskari ladke hain hamare!
Is there a hunger to change the colour at Paris?
Harmanpreet: I think as a player, you are never satisfied. Even if you win gold, the next Olympics you want it again, and I think that’s always there for every player. We are capable of doing better and winning, that’s just the mindset for every player.
What would a medal mean?
Fulton: It’ll be a reward for the process that we’ve put in place. I always talk about an ideal and a realistic goal. The ideal is to win every time you go to a tournament. Realistically, we’re not where we want to be. We are seventh, who’s going to put money on us to win gold? At the same time, it’s up to us to play the way we want to and deliver.
Harmanpreet: It matters a lot, because of our history. It will be a way to continue that, it will be everything for me. More importantly, I want to bring back the time when people thronged to watch hockey matches and loved the game – a medal will be key to reach more people and revive the game more than ever before. That’s the dream.
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