Rahul Dravid, Abhinav Bindra and Pullela Gopichand on elite athlete identification committee

Abhinav Bindra and Rahul Dravid

Former India cricketer Rahul Dravid, current Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and Commonwealth gold medallist Abhinav Bindra have been included in a new committee to select Olympic medal hopes. The committee has been formed to increase India’s medal tally in 2016 and 2020 Olympics. The committee will be named "Target Mission Olympic Podium Scheme". The scheme will be promoted by National Sports Development fund.

Amrit Thakur, who has been appointed as convener, stated, “It is an honour for me to head such a prestigious committee having illustrious names like Dravid, Bindra and Gopichand. Our mandate is to select about 75-100 sportspersons under TOP scheme. We will ensure that promising sportspersons across various sports are identified and trained. Our aim is to take the medal tally to double digits in Rio 2016 Olympics and India should win 20 medals in 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

Thakur is also the joint secretary of the BCCI. Apart from former cricket captain Dravid and Olympics gold medal winning shooter Bindra, the eight-member committee also consists of Pullela Gopichand, Director General of SAI (Sports Authority of India), Joint Secretary sports, MYAS, CEO of Mittal Champions Trust Manisha Malhotra and Amrit Mathur as convener.