Even with the IHF's ways that never fail to bamboozle and bemuse, Maharaj Kishen Kaushik's elevation on Sunday to guide India's challenge at stern tests ahead clearly belongs to the realm of fiction. The former right-winger has had little or no coaching activity in the last three or four years and his appointment in Vasudevan Baskaran's place stunned the nation. Why, it even had Kaushik himself bewildered, it was reported.

Kaushik, it is learnt is a favourite of IHF coaching committee chairman, MP Ganesh -- more significantly exerting his influence as Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Director (South Centres).

With the IHF showing little imagination in marketing or promoting the sport it has invariably had to scrape the bottom of its coffers. With SAI, providing the lifeline in money terms to sustain the National squad's busy international training schedule, it was only inevitablethat the IHF bend to its dictats.

And so Kaushik, deputy to MP Ganesh in 1989-90, a former National women's coach and a firm adherent to the former India skipper's methods and prescriptions, stole a march over IHF chief KPS Gill's recommendation -- Col Balbir Singh -- who recently quit his post as National women's coach.

Balbir's resignation did come as something of a surprise, the team's 12th and last position at the Utrecht World Cup notwithstanding. Surely enough, Balbir appeared on course to bigger things -- like coaching the men's National team, buoyed by, it would appear, Gill's encouragement.

Cedric D'Souza, IHF Executive Director (Coaching and Planning), emerged out of obscurity to attend the Murugappa event as selector that concluded on Sunday in Chennai, strongly supported the retaining of Baskaran for the Hamburg four-nation, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Bangkok later this year.

D'Souza, speaking to the The Indian Express, explained: ``Baskaran has handled internationalteams at the junior and senior level for the last several years. Kaushik, has been in the coaching wilderness for around the same time. I would vouch for coaches who have been involved in active coaching rather than pitchfork someone into the thick of battle after he has been out in the cold for a considerable period.

``I had recommended that Baskaran should continue until the end of the year with either Balbir or Kaushik sent as observers to India's campaigns abroad. A final decision, with an eye on the 2000 Olympics could then have been made at the beginning of the New Year. Kaushik, a good friend of mine, himself agreed wholeheartedly on the matter,'' Cedric added.

That was not to be. And the spectre of SAI's domination looms even larger over Indian hockey as Ganesh readies to don the mantle of SAI Executive Director (Teams) after the retirement of AS Prasad.