After reading largely from the Australian and Dutch playbooks for the last decade and more, Indian hockey will now have a South African as the men’s team coach. The debacle at the home World Cup saw the end of Aussie Graham Reid’s stint. The parting of ways, a year and a half from the high of the podium finish at the Tokyo finish showed how trigger-happy Indian hockey administrators can be. Clearly, there is very little credit in the bank for a foreign coach, howsoever good results he may provide, a point Craig Fulton may ponder as he takes charge of arguably the most high-profile coaching assignment in world hockey. Fulton may not be as celebrated a name in the game as some of his predecessors, but has an impressive CV. The 2015 FIH Coach of the Year, Fulton made his mark as in-charge of the Irish men’s team, becoming the first coach in over 100 years to guide an Irish hockey team to Olympic qualification in 2016. In the previous year, Ireland finished third in the EuroHockey Nations Championship under Fulton’s coaching. The 48-year-old South African, who had a long playing career for his country, appearing in two Olympics (Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004), then joined Belgium as assistant coach and was part of the staff as the Red Lions became world champions in 2018 and Olympic gold medallists at Tokyo. Fulton also has had success domestically, being adjudged Belgian Coach of the Year in 2023 after taking Racing club to the league title. At the time of accepting the Indian offer, Fulton was coach of KHC Dragons. He has had club stints in England, Ireland and South Africa. 🚨 BREAKING 🚨Craig Fulton of 🇿🇦 is the new chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team. 🏑The South African was the assistant coach of the 2018 World Cup and Tokyo 2020 gold medal-winning Belgian team. 👏#Hockey | @TheHockeyIndia | @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/adDwNRYgvH— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) March 3, 2023 Fulton is yet to arrive in India to complete the formalities and paperwork before taking charge. India’s next assignment is the FIH Hockey Pro League games against Australia and Germany in Rourkela from March 10-15. Interim coaches David John, Shivendra Singh and BJ Kariappa will be in the dugout for those matches. The 2024 Paris Olympics is less than 17 months away, which seems longer than it actually is when a team has to get its house in order. The bronze in Tokyo prompted a lot of celebration and back-slapping in Indian hockey circles, which was one of the reasons the weaknesses going into a home World Cup were not sufficiently addressed. Regeneration needed Several members of the current Indian squad have been playing together for a considerable time, and may be getting on. With Fulton having made his name with upcoming international teams, he may be an ideal fit for India if they go on a rebuilding phase. He is known to focus on a sound defence, a key area for India who often ship cheap goals and concede avoidable penalty corners. Being a coach of the new generation, Fulton can be expected to rely more on data and concentrate on physical parameters of players’ performance. He would also need to work on the mental and psychological aspects of the game. In the penalty shootout defeat to New Zealand, which ended India’s title chances at the recent World Cup, several senior players opted not to take attempts. In that tournament, the age-old problem of inconsistency also came to the fore. India’s level of play ebbed and flowed over the four quarters. Whenever stakes became higher and pressure more intense, they seemed to lose composure. Apart from the game against New Zealand, this was evident in the group game against lowly Wales, when they had to win by a big margin to qualify directly for the quarterfinals, but seemed to lose the plot. Fulton is an alumnus of Pretoria Boys High School, which has been the alma mater of several top-class South African sportspersons such as Aiden Markram, Chris Morris, Simon Harmer, Eddie Barlow and Oscar Pistorius, as well as Twitter chief executive officer Elon Musk. He has also studied at Stellenbosch University, where former England batsman Jonathan Trott was also a student. The South African will not have too much time to settle into his job and will have to hit the ground running. Anything less than a podium finish in Paris may be seen as a step down from Tokyo, however unrealistic that expectation may be. When Reid stepped down, the coaching and support staff with him also quit. No appointments have yet been made for the positions of the team’s scientific adviser and analytical coach. A South African, by the name of Gary Kirsten, kept a low profile and delivered the ultimate prize in the form of the 2011 World Cup crown. It remains to be seen how his compatriot operates and how successful he is in the final reckoning.
