New Delhi: The endless wait is finally over. The selection committee of IHF, yesterday named M K Kaushik, as the chief coach of the national hockey team. The former Olympian has been appointed until the 2010 Asian Games. 

The committee, presided over by Ajitpal Singh and attended by all members -- Aslam Sher Khan, Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay -- also finalised a list of 48 probables for upcoming international events. Along with this the committee also decided to retain the services of AK Bansal for coaching the junior national team till the next year's World Cup to be held in Singapore and Malaysia.

Kaushik will be assisted by Harender Singh, former India mid-fielder Ramandeep Singh and goal keeping coach Romeo James. Kaushik had earlier coached the Indian side in late 90’s. 

Speaking on this, a delighted Kaushik said, “I have been the coach of the team before. But this time it is a new challenge for me because we have to bring Indian hockey back on track”.

However, Kaushik's selection put many people in a strange dilemma, because till now he was the coach of Indian Women Hockey Federation.

Commenting on this, IWHF secretary Amrit Bose said, “I can't say who will be the new coach for the women's team because we were not given any time or choice to think about the other coach.”