After Jalandhar, a New India: Fulton’s Rebuild Starts With a New Zealand Tour
Win it first. Then change everything. That seems to be the plan for Indian hockey.
The Asian Champions Trophy in Jalandhar is, for at least four of India’s senior players, expected to be their final tournament in national colours. Mandeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Nilakanta Sharma, all in their 30s and all part of India’s Olympic bronze-medal campaigns, are understood to be playing their last games for India this week, according to sources quoted in the Times of India. Hockey India’s selection committee chairman RP Singh wouldn’t name names, but he confirmed the scale of the change: at least half a dozen players could be featuring in their final matches for India at this tournament.
“It’s time to get fresh legs into the team,” RP Singh told the Times of India. “I cannot name the players, but they have been informed about the situation. We believe they deserve an honourable exit. With Punjab hosting an international tournament after nearly two decades, it is only fitting that some of them sign off on home turf.”
It’s a big call, and a brave one. These are players who have carried India through two Olympic cycles. But with the Los Angeles Olympics less than two years away, the coaching staff want time to groom what comes next. And head coach Craig Fulton has been clear about the direction of travel since the Asian Games: once the Hockey India League is done, the rebuild begins in earnest.
“LA 2028 is within two years. It seems a long way off, but it obviously comes around pretty quick,” Fulton told SAI Media after India defended their Asian Games gold in Japan. “We have some youth, but we have a lot of youth in the Indian A team and a strong Under-21 team as well, which is great. So in the next two-three months, I think just post the Hockey India League, we’ll have a look at all the talent that we have, choose new squad, and start afresh from there.”
The first stop on that road is expected to be New Zealand. Reports on Tuesday said India will select a younger group for a three-match tour of New Zealand after the Asian Champions Trophy, a squad blending the remaining senior players with fresh faces so Fulton can judge young talent in overseas conditions. The players then reunite for the Hockey India League, with the squad for February’s FIH Pro League matches in India to be finalised later.
None of this is a farewell to experience altogether. Harmanpreet Singh stays as captain, Hardik Singh and the Asian Games core remain, and the young players already blooded in Jalandhar, Amandeep Lakra and Aditya Arjun Lalage, are part of the bridge to what’s next. The balance Fulton keeps talking about, youth and experience, is the whole point.
For now, though, the focus in Jalandhar is simpler: win the tournament, give the seniors the send-off they deserve, and then start again. If India lift the trophy on 5 November in Mohali, the rebuild begins with a trophy in the cabinet. That’s not a bad place to start from.
Related links:
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-eve-harmanpreet-every-team-here-to-win-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-2026-four-india-seniors-final-appearance-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/manpreet-singh-ruled-out-asian-champions-trophy-vivek-sagar-prasad-26-october-2026/
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