With 2026 promising a crushing schedule, Indian management working out delicate balanceBHUBANESWAR: Coming in from their Paris Olympics high last summer and the Asian Champions Trophy win, the Indian men's hockey team kicked off the current season in fine fashion -- winning five out of eight matches in the Pro League here.
But something else has the head coach Craig Fulton worried. It is the players' current workload that has the pragmatic South African coach concerned with the Asian Games and World Cup looming next year.
Considering that all the players were coming into the event following the Hockey India League, where the teams played a minimum 10 matches each in the group stages, Fulton not only selected a large squad of 32 players but also kept rotating them during the 11-day tournament.
Despite taking precautions, Sumit Walmiki picked up a hamstring injury in the first match itself and was out for the rest of the tournament.
Speaking about it, Fulton had said early in the event, "Hockey India League has taken its toll. We've got to manage. We're going to rotate the squad and we're going to make sure that we are competitive in each game but also, to finish strong."
Yes, they did finish strong. But the coach is now concerned about what's going to happen next year in 2026. Next year promises to be a very busy hockey calendar. They will have the HIL likely to be played over five different cities. Then there will be the Pro League.
As a result, some of the seniors would be playing nearly 20 matches over just two months. Hardly the ideal considering they have the World Cup and the Asian Games just three weeks apart in Aug and Sept – historically, key tournaments for India for which the squad will not only need lots of training but adequate rest as well.
The balance was proving challenging this year itself and Hardik Singh even admitted midway into the tournament, "To play eight matches in 11 days is difficult. We are giving our 100% but the schedule is tiring, and it is too much."
To iron out this imbalance, Fulton is planning to slowly build up a developmental team or the India A-team that will take part in next year's Pro League.
This move will not only allow the seniors to rest but also help Fulton prepare a larger pool of players to choose from, because playing two major events over such a short time with the same set of players is bound to wear them out.
Last year itself, following the Olympics, Fulton had rested several of his seniors when India went to China for the Asian Champions Trophy.
This proposed rotational policy is also what Alan Tan, scientific advisor to India, wants in the coming days. "Rest, rest, and more rest. The players will get a break to spend time with their loved ones before they enter a testing camp. They'll go back to their associations to compete at the national championships. We resume in late April for our preparation for the next Pro League in Europe," revealed Tan.
There is another worrying issue with playing so much over such a short time. "We have spent the last two and a half to three months in hotel rooms and players do develop cabin fever," Tan added.
And to counter that, Tan has been impressing on the need for sleep and free time. "We also include modalities such as hydrotherapy sessions, cold water immersions, compression boots, and manual therapy to aid in their recovery," said the scientific advisor.
Despite all these advancements, Fulton and Tan are mindful that playing back-to-back events next year will be challenging. To prepare for that, they will review the performance of the players in the Pro League and the HIL since both are back-to-back competitions.
They are hopeful that their plans would benefit India's men's hockey team, but one cannot deny that they will be tested a lot over the next 18 months even as Fulton hopes to take the team to the next level.
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