Sreejesh Takes Aim at Fulton as India Name Full-Strength Squad for Asian Champions Trophy Defence
India’s defence of the Asian Champions Trophy has a subplot before a ball is pushed back: their greatest modern goalkeeper has gone public against the head coach.
PR Sreejesh, the former India captain, has criticised Craig Fulton for naming a full-strength squad for the tournament in Punjab, which starts on Tuesday 27 October. Sreejesh’s argument is simple. This is a home tournament against Asian opposition India are expected to beat. Why isn’t the coach using it to test bench strength and give younger players a chance?
The squad
Hockey India named the squad on 13 October, and it’s essentially the team that won Asian Games gold in Japan. Captain Harmanpreet Singh leads. Suraj Karkera and Krishan Bahadur Pathak are the goalkeepers. The defence runs Sanjay, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh and Amandeep Lakra; the midfield is Rajinder Singh, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh and Manpreet Singh; the forwards are Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh. Vishnu Kant Singh and Angad Bir Singh travel as reserves.
India open against Bangladesh in Jalandhar on 27 October. The league stage runs at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar until 2 November, with the semi-finals on 4 November and the medal matches on 5 November at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali. Malaysia, Japan, Korea and China complete the six-team field. India have won five of the eight editions and start as clear favourites.
Why Sreejesh said it
This isn’t a one-off. Sreejesh and Hockey India have been sparring all year. His contract as India U-21 junior men’s coach wasn’t renewed despite a Junior World Cup bronze, and he accused the federation of preferring a foreign coach, alleging Fulton pushed to align the senior and junior pipelines. Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey denied that Fulton influenced the decision, saying the French coach Frederic Soyez was picked on merit with an eye on the 2036 Olympics.
So there’s history here, and it’s worth reading the criticism in that light. But strip away the personal stuff and Sreejesh has a point that stands on its own. A home continental tournament you should win is the lowest-risk place in hockey to blood youngsters. You don’t get many of those.
The counter-argument, and it’s not nothing: Fulton has a pattern of prioritising cohesion over experimentation. He treated the Pro League like a laboratory, tried hybrid marking and rotation, and took the short-term hits. The new Pro League season starts on 8 December, and India have the 2028 Olympic cycle ahead of them after the Asiad gold sealed qualification. He may simply want his core playing together, winning together, in front of a home crowd.
For our money, Sreejesh is right about the principle but India’s probably going to lift the trophy either way. A 25-man squad with two or three new faces wouldn’t have weakened them against this field, and the fans in Jalandhar would have loved seeing the next wave get a run. If Fulton won’t experiment at home in Asia, it’s fair to ask where he will.
India’s other stories: Bangladesh take Pakistan’s place at the ACT, the ACT opening-day fixtures, and Sreejesh’s India junior mentor role.
