Sreejesh's Question, Fulton's Answer: Is Indian Hockey Really Building Depth?

The press box had one chair for me and forty men who never looked up. In October 2026, at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium during the Asia Cup, I was the only woman journalist. That day, after India beat Malaysia 2-1 in the final, I wrote about the hip rotation of the drag-flick, and a veteran colleague told me, 'Women cannot read a penalty corner.' Today, the same question has returned, but this time it has been raised by India's legendary goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, and the answer is being given by head coach Craig Fulton. The question is not about the rules of the game, but about the future of the game. The context is clear. By winning gold at the 2026 Asian Games, India secured a direct berth for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Following that success, the Asian Champions Trophy will be held in Jalandhar and Mohali, Punjab, from October 27 to November 5, 2026. This tournament is not a qualifier for India, as the Olympic ticket is already in hand. Yet, India is sending a near-full-strength squad to this event. Sreejesh's question is straightforward: 'Do we really have a genuine second line-up, or are we simply afraid to test it?' Fulton's answer is equally direct: on home soil, with crowd pressure, a strong team is needed. But the truth hidden beneath this controversy is caught by my 48 years of observation. India's claimed world ranking of 8th, and consecutive 8th-place finishes in the Pro League — if these two facts are true, then the Asian Games gold is a reflection of regional dominance, not global strength. The Pro League is played against the world's best teams, and a sustained 8th-place finish there means the gap with the top six (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Argentina, England) is still very large. India is the best in Asia, but weak against Europe and Oceania — to close this duality, bench depth must be tested. Sreejesh's argument becomes even sharper when we see that Pakistan is not participating in this tournament. Sreejesh himself has said that Pakistan's absence has reduced the tournament's competitive value. Without the historic rival, the Asian Champions Trophy is an even lower-pressure event for India. Yet, the senior core is being played in this low-pressure event, with players likely over 29, whose injury risk increases with every match. From the perspective of preparing for Los Angeles 2028, this is the most valuable window for testing the bench. With two years in hand, this is the best opportunity to give new players international experience. But the squad selection suggests the coaching staff is choosing the present over the future. But here comes my counter-intuitive observation. Fulton's decision may not be wrong, because the home-ground pressure is real. The Jalandhar-Mohali crowd loves Indian hockey, and losing a tournament at home creates immense public pressure. When a two-time Olympic medalist like Sreejesh publicly questions the coach's decision, the crowd's expectations rise even higher. In this situation, if Fulton had actually fielded bench players and India had lost, a flood of criticism would have followed. So sending a strong team to home soil is not tactically wrong, but rather politically wise. The problem is that this decision makes India's long-term depth question even more uncertain. Going deeper, it becomes clear that this is not just a squad selection controversy, but a governance controversy. Sreejesh's junior coach contract was not renewed, and in that context, he has raised questions publicly. Whether this is personal grievance or genuine strategic concern is hard to say with certainty. However, it is clear that there is a long-standing structural debate about foreign coach dependency in Indian hockey, and Fulton's consecutive 8th-place Pro League finishes have made that debate more prominent. Sreejesh's platform and stature give him outsized influence in Indian hockey governance, creating pressure on Hockey India. In my 48 years of experience, I have seen that when the league stops, the stories do not. In Bangladesh, the Premier Division League has been held only 13 times in 27 years, and that irregularity is the root cause of our hockey's problems. India's situation is different, but the principle is the same — without regular competition, depth is not built. Sreejesh's question is essentially the same question: are we building players for the future, or using players for the present? If no rotation policy comes from Fulton's response, then at Los Angeles 2028, India will face the same problem again — reliance on an experienced core, and an unprepared bench. I want to end with a question: if India's senior core gets injured in Los Angeles in 2028, who will step up? If the answer to this question is not found today, then the Asian Champions Trophy gold will carry no value. For 48 years, I have learned the clock on a track and the crowd in a stadium — both are equally important to me. In today's controversy, I see that the track time is running out for India's seniors, but the stadium crowd is still waiting for a new generation. To fulfill that wait, the squad selection policy must change, and the responsibility for that policy lies not only with the coach, but also with Hockey India.