Olympian Maharaj Krishan Kaushik was on Wednesday named coach of the senior men’s hockey team, just 48 hours after Australian Michael Nobbs was prematurely relieved of his duties by the Sports Authority of India for failing to produce results.
Kaushik will assist high performance director Roelant Oltmans, who will now double up as a chief coach till a suitable replacement for Nobbs is found.
Reacting to his appointment, Kaushik said: “I am very happy. It’s an honour for any player to coach his country, I have experience of working with different people from the coaching fraternity and will give my best.”
Kaushik will join the national camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru starting July 16.
His first assignment with the men’s team will be the 9th Asia Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia, from August 24 to September 1, which India must win to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the Netherlands.
“I will now sit down with the entire team management and find out solutions which can help India qualify for next year’s World Cup,” he said.
Kaushik, however, said pressure would be high on India in the upcoming eight-nation Asia Cup.
“In Rotterdam the pressure was less but in the Asia Cup the pressure on the Indian team will be immense and we will have to perform under pressure,” Kaushik was quoted as saying.
Welcoming Kaushik’s appointment, Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra said: “Mr Kaushik had the desired credentials to work with the senior men’s team. I am hopeful that with his contribution the team will make improvement in the coming days and wish the team good luck to win the 9th Asia Cup.”
Kaushik had earlier coached both the senior men’s as well as women’s teams.
Under him, the India men’s team won their last major international tournament, a gold in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
An Arjuna awardede in 1998, Kaushik also guided the Indian women’s team to a bronze medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006.