MUMBAI: This admission season, three more IIT campuses – Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad and Indian Institute of Technology Mandi – will welcome students not merely for their prowess with numbers, but for their command over shuttlecocks, sticks and mats.The idea, first articulated by IIT Madras, stems from a long-term objective: to assemble an all-India Team IIT, a sporting phalanx reminiscent of the formidable squads fielded by the Indian Railways.Two years ago, IIT Madras introduced supernumerary seats for those who had stood on podiums at recognised national championships. Then IIT Indore joined the experiment last year.Director V Kamakoti said he was delighted by what he has seen so far. The students admitted through this route, he says, have held their own – on courts as much as in classrooms.
