Having faced defeat in the opener, India must beat Germany in the second hockey Test if they are to draw the home series 1-1. But the must-win scenario won't stop India head coach Craig Fulton and captain Harmanpreet Singh from again trying out new team combinations at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday. (Highlights | More Hockey News)
Both the captain and coach stressed on the need to give new players a chance, ahead of high-stake games in the future. "If this was a qualifier or something like that, it would have been totally different. We have a big enough squad, and we also need to give new players an opportunity," Fulton said after India's loss on Wednesday.
"We need to give players the opportunity, so it was already decided beforehand that who's going to play and that's important for them and their development," Fulton explained.
Harmanpreet resonated with the coach. "This is the right time (to experiment). We will definitely try out the new players, the ones we wanted to give a chance in this series," he said.
"We want to win every game, no doubt about that. But this is the only chance for us to carry out the experiments we want to. Our main target is the Pro League. If we do well there, we can directly qualify for the World Cup," Harmanpreet added.
India handed debuts to young midfielder Rajinder Singh and striker Aditya Arjun Lalage in the first Test, apart from recalling players like Mandeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh. The fresh approach is in line with what the coach said at the pre-match press conference as well, with an aim on building a new core group for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"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 had said before the match.
As for how India performed, the coach rued India's missed chances, while Harmanpreet felt India could have counter-attacked better.
"We were playing for the first time at the Dhyan Chand Stadium and had just one day of practice. But we could have done better, be it penalty corners or counters. At the end of the day, it is all about how well you defend," the India captain said. He also praised the German goalkeeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji, who saved Harmanpreet's penalty stroke and a number of PCs and field goal opportunities as well.
Fulton stated: "We weren't that fluid up front. But we created enough chances and penalty corners, so that was good. If you don't take your chances, it will come back to burn you. Wasn't to be today but we will come back, fix it and hopefully get a (better) result tomorrow."
He expressed his gratitude to the sizeable Delhi crowd, which turned up despite the afternoon heat and it being a weekday. "It's always good to play at home. I am just sorry we couldn't score a goal for them today and get a result."
Fulton took a balanced view on India's overall performance, pointing out that generating goal-scoring opportunities was perhaps as important as converting them. "At least we are creating the chances. If we weren't even creating, then I would be worried. (It was our) First game in a while, and we need to make some improvements tomorrow and we'll be back."
