Interview Harmanpreet Singh & Craig Fulton | ‘As a team we have seen every situation, handled it together’ Premium

Craig Fulton and Harmanpreet Singh discuss leading the Indian men's hockey team to the Olympics with trust, communication, and determination.

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:

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.

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.