India hockey team captain, coach 'not a fan' of penalty corner rule change

Chennai: Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and head coach Craig Fulton are both sceptical of the proposed rule change around penalty corners.

Speaking at a media meet on Tuesday ahead of the Hockey Asian Champions Trophy here, both captain and coach were united in decrying the rule change that is being tipped as the 'beginning of the end' of penalty corners in the sport.

"I am not really a fan of radical changes in the game. I know it is not final yet. They will be very brave to do that but if I will be honest, making penalty corner almost non-existent is not something I am a fan of," Fulton told The Bridge.

The change in rule is being trialled to reduce the dangers for the onrushing defenders, but both Fulton and Harmanpreet said the move might not have any effect on reducing danger.

"The biggest factor is to minimise the danger for the first rusher and the defenders who usually take the hit. But it will be similarly dangerous if the players can make the pass and flick inside the D," said Fulton.

Echoing his coach, Indian skipper Harmanpreet, one of the best drag flickers in the world, said, “If the ball has to come back to the D and players can flick from there, the danger remains the same for the defenders.”

On being asked how he sees this change from the point of view of a drag flicker, Harmanpreet said, “We will get more space as we don’t have any first rusher to beat and we can try a drag flick from anywhere.”

The FIH had announced in January this year that a rule change to penalty corners would be introduced to reduce danger for defenders. In July, the FIH has sent out a communication to the respective national hockey federations on trialling a new rule.

Drag flicks, where the attacker gathers the ball and flicks it - at a maximum speed of 150kmph - from about 10m from the goal, result in the most hockey injuries, according to previous research. To avoid this, the new proposed rule suggests the following:

"...the ball must travel at least 5m outside the circle, beyond the 5m dotted circle, before a goal can be scored... All attackers except the initial injector must start 5m outside the circle... (This is to) reduce the danger by removing the direct shot and therefore no need for defenders to run towards an attacker shooting at goal."