Infosys is set to appoint Basab Pradhan as the global head of sales next month, according to two people familiar with the decision.

This appointment is seen as CEO designate SD Shibulal's first big move in the company as he tries to fire up the sales engine, at a time when Infosys is struggling to fend off rivals such as TCS and Cognizant.

Basab Pradhan is not new to Infosys and was in fact head of sales in 2005, before he quit and founded Gridstone Research . But, he quit the startup during the downturn in 2009 and has been an independent writer and consultant in the last two years