Indian gamers throughout a coaching session on the eve of the Asia Cup in Rajgir.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY
The Asia Cup, whereas being necessary as a qualifying occasion for the World Cup, can also be essential for groups to put together their programmes for the subsequent 18 months and India coach Craig Fulton admits that profitable right here would ease a variety of strain on the facet.
“Of course, if we qualify from here, we already have a year’s programme set. Otherwise, it will be some time probably in March (the qualifiers), which really complicates a very busy schedule with the Pro League and the Hockey India League. That’s something we want to avoid at all costs from our side,” Fulton mentioned right here on the eve of the event.
Fulton added that the teachings from the Pro League had been labored on with give attention to each scoring and defending. “We had a lot of meetings and put a lot of emphasis on tactics, putting the ball more in the opposition circle and getting more scoring chances, which will make us more effective on the scoreboard. You always need to have a level of defence to ensure the team plays a certain way because if we score but also concede we don’t always win games, a problem we had in the Pro League,” he mentioned.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh agreed, saying the ends in the Pro League weren’t as anticipated however the matches helped rather a lot. “The most important thing is to be alert in the two-three minutes after scoring a goal because that is the time when there is a danger of conceding a goal or rushing too much. We also need to be alert at the start of the 3rd and 4th quarters – lessons we learnt from the Pro League,” he defined.
Published – August 28, 2025 09:55 pm IST
