The former strength and conditioning coach Paddy Upton feels that the current Indian Men's Hockey team is way stronger than the men's cricket team he worked with. Currently, Uptoon is working with the Men's Hockey team and is at Rajgir, Bihar, due to the 2025 Her Asia Cup. Upton, who was a part of the 2011 ODI men's World Cup, feels that the hockey team now has leveled up their game in all respects. And it won't be surprising to see eighteen to twenty Virat Kohli in the team. Speaking to Midday, Upton said, “If I compare the dedication to sleeping, eating, training of this team to my time in Indian cricket, these guys are another five leagues above that Indian cricket team. Virat, at his level of fitness and dedication, is unique in world cricket but here each player is as good as him. This is a team of 18 or 20 Virat Kohlis when it comes to that level of physicality." Unlike cricket, hockey is a paced game involving body contact, just like cricket. Even though there are seconds of breather after every ball, the hockey players are running all the time, even after the whistle blows. However, in the present day, cricket has been working hard to increase the level of fitness. India brought in the intermittent running test named the yo-yo test, which measures the aerobic capacity of the athletes. It is a popular fitness test for hockey players; however, it is much harder to accomplish than the one in Indian cricket. Recently they have adopted another rugby-based Bronco Test, including shuttle runs. Read also: Virat Kohli to Undergo BCCI Fitness Test in London Paddy Upton to stay with Men's Hockey team till 2028 Olympics The Indian hockey team went to Australia after a frustrating eighth-position finish in the 2025 FIH Pro League jointly hosted by Odisha, Netherland and Amsterdam. India lost the Australia Series at Perth too, by 3-1. However, coming to Bihar, India went to the Super four, with astounding wins against China, Japan and Kazakhstan. Upton says that the team's leadership group, meaning the team's head coach Craig Fulton and captain Harmanpreet Singh, wants him to stay till the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Upton said, “The leadership group, [coach] Craig Fulton and [captain] Harmanpreet Singh feel that I should work with the team before some of the big tournaments; this one, hopefully, the World Cup [in 2026] and the Olympics [2028] to help the players manage distraction." Notably, India will face Korea today, at Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium.