Former skipper stands up for Kaushik

NEW DELHI: His back against the wall in the wake of the sexual harassment allegation, MK Kaushik on Friday received strong support from none other than a player whom he coached in early 90s – Pritam Rani Siwach. The former captain of the women’s team put her weight behind the beleaguered coach saying that she was “110 per cent sure Kaushik sir would not have done this”.

“When I was in the team and he was the coach, we used to look up to him as the head of the family. I had never seen him indulging in such activities during my playing days,” said the former striker from Haryana who was in the same team as Thokchom Ranjita Devi for the Olympic qualifiers in Kazan, Russia in 2008.

“Like an elder member of the family, he would scold us for committing mistakes on the field, but never did anything which I can call as sexual harassment.”

The national coach of the men’s hockey team, Harendra Singh, termed the turn of events as unfortunate. “It’s really unfortunate. I know Kaushik for a very long time… he’s a thorough gentleman. It’s very hard to believe that he can do such an act,” Harendra told TOI from Holland.

Meanwhile, the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in a letter to Hockey India stated that it did not receive any complaint from its players on the issue. Thirteen members of the current Indian women’s team squad are employed by Railways. Ranjita, who labelled the charge against Kaushik, also works for Railways. “Railways have neither received any complaint or report from the manager (Madhu Yadav, who’s also a Railways employee) and the players on this issue till date,” said the letter addressed to HI president on Thursday.

There’s also a section in hockey circles which believes that some elements were trying to benefit from the situation by defaming Kaushik. “Kaushik has been the hockey coach for quite some time now. His term will expire after the Asian Games. Some people who want to take over as coach are doing their best to add to the confusion by discrediting and defaming him.”

The source added, “Let the case be probed but I’m sure that the disgruntled elements in the team, mostly senior players, have been misguided in this issue.”