Core group for WC, Olympics on cards

Indian men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton on Tuesday said he has got down to building a new core group of players keeping in mind the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The two-Test series against world champions and Olympic silver medallists Germany, starting here on Wednesday, is a step in that direction.

Fulton has opted for a mix of youth and experience against Germany, handing debut to young midfielder Rajinder Singh and striker Aditya Arjun Lagale besides calling back players such as Mandeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh.

“If you look at it from now to the World Cup and now to LA (Los Angeles), we are just trying to open up the selection to pick a new core group that will take us from now to Word Cup and from World Cup to LA,” Fulton said at the pre-match press conference.

“So you are never out of the system in that sense. Now it’s opened up again and now we are giving guys opportunities.”

The matches against Germany will be played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Fulton rejected observations that hockey Test series have become irrelevant, saying any opportunity to play a quality side is always beneficial.

“It is always important to play Test matches, it is the test of where you are. It will be good for us, we have Rajinder and Aditya -- two debutants -- and we also want to see some of the other players who have come back.

Germany poses a lot of threats, they are very good tactically, they are good in man-to-man marking. So our strategy will have to adapt. You know you can play one way for 10 minutes and then totally different way. They are a good team, smart team and we like playing Germany. Craig Fulton