New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS): Hockey India (HI) Monday appointed Olympian Maharaj Krishan Kaushik as the high performance manager for the Central Zone.

"Kaushik, who was the coach of the Indian hockey team that won gold at the recently concluded Incheon Asian Games, will start monitoring all domestic activities in the central zone comprising Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand from Nov 1," HI said in a statement.

Speaking on Kaushik's appointment, Hockey India president Narinder Batra said: "Kaushik is a great resource for Indian hockey, who has valuable experience and in-depth knowledge of the sport."

"The experience that he carries of the game, made us realise that he needs to be given larger roles as it will prove beneficial in our efforts to develop the game and the players in the central zone of the country. This initiative will further help us to not only identifying talent at grass root level but also minutely monitor such players in their development."

Kaushik will be responsible for teaching the coaches of academy and states players the right techniques which in turn will help develop the players in the long run.

HI earlier appointed Vasudevan Baskaran for the South Zone and Sukhvir Singh Grewal for the North Zone.

“I am looking forward to my new role as high performance manager. It is a positive step forward for the betterment of the sport in the country at grassroots level. This initiative of Hockey India will help to boost the infrastructure of hockey in the country and will be helpful in identifying the right talent," said Kaushik.

"I am confident that HI’s plan of introducing their high performance coaching programme in the country will take the sport to different level," he added.

Kaushik, a member of the 1980 Olympics gold medal winning team, has coached both the Indian men's and women's teams.