Kaushik’s appointment means AK Bansal, who had been in charge of the team since Joaquim Carvalho quit after the Chile Olympic qualifiers in March this year, will be shunted back to the junior team. Bansal had managed to come up with good results with the team, finishing runners-up in the Azlan Shah tournament and winning the junior Asia Cup recently. “No one is questioning Bansal’s calibre,” said a member of the selection committee. “But we felt that Kaushik has more experience at the senior level.

“We have just one year to prepare for three big tournaments — the World Cup, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games (all to be held in 2010, the first two in India). So we needed someone someone respected by all.”

The selection committee also finalised the list of 48 probables that would form the core of the Indian team till 2010. The list will be made official after being approved by the IOA ad-hoc committee and the sports ministry.

Gill to hold ‘AGM’ today

KPS Gill is going ahead with the Annual General Meeting of the suspended IHF here on Wednesday. With the IHF suspended, the IOA-constituted ad-hoc committee has been given legal sanction to conduct the affairs of the game. “Gill can have any number of meetings he wants, but he cannot call them the AGM. He has not been provided any relief by the courts, how can a suspended body hold its AGM,” questioned ad-hoc committee convenor Mohammad Aslam Khan.

... contd.