The team’s biggest defeat in 16 years has not gone down well with Hockey India.
| Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT
The Indian team’s disastrous outing against Argentina in the FIH Pro league on Thursday may not have set the alarm bells ringing just yet but there is no denying that the concerns go beyond the 8-0 scoreline. And while coach Craig Fulton did put up a brave face after the match, recent performances have come under scrutiny, both individually and as a team.
“We are in this together, no one else is going to magically come out of the sky and take this difficult situation away. We have to take accountability for it, be responsible and deal with it,” Fulton admitted. “We’ve got to just stay calm, read between the lines, see where we are – physically, mentally, tactically – and then have some honest conversations and come back stronger,” he added.
But the team’s biggest defeat in 16 years has not gone down well with Hockey India with president Dilip Tirkey admitting it was not ideal in a crucial year. “It is not just the result; the players, specially the seniors, have appeared too casual on the field in both games so far. Frankly, the team hasn’t been up to expected levels for a while now. They need to remember that while major events are definitely more important, you cannot take any game lightly whenever you step out to represent the country.
“We are never in favour of knee-jerk reactions but we expect them to realise this themselves, raise their performances in the coming games and tours and prove they deserve to be in the national team, every one of them,” he told The Hindu.
Vice-captain Hardik Singh admitted as much. “We were off our best by at least 20-30%. It’s hard to point out a specific reason – we did everything right in the training sessions but something is not going right. It’s a team game and we all need to collectively bounce back, we need to step up, specially the seniors. I did not play well at all, what signal does it send to the youngsters? We will do everything to make sure everyone watching us is proud of us,” a dejected Hardik said.
The biggest worry is the continued poor form of captain Harmanpreet Singh, key to India’s fortunes. “He’s not himself at the moment as we can all see. At the same time, we will assess it and see where he’s at. He had an injury in the last HIL game but he’s coming out of that,” Fulton agreed.
Harmanpreet has been ineffective with penalty corners in the last few matches, missed a couple of penalty strokes against Argentina and has been less than optimal in defence as well, raising questions on his fitness. Sources said he might be rested for the upcoming Hobart leg of the Pro League. With the Asian Games and a ticket to LA28 at stake in six months’ time, hopefully the team would iron out the chinks soon.
Published – February 13, 2026 09:18 pm IST
