Bhupathi picks four singles players; Paes, Bops reserves

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) today named Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna as reserve players for next month’s Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan, raising questions over the final selection of the veteran duo. 

The AITA dubbed the decision as part of India’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi’s “meticulous” strategy to keep the Uzbeks guessing about the final four names for the April 7-9 tie in Bengaluru.

According to the rules, a team can change two playing members one hour before the start of the tie. By naming four singles players in the squad, Bhupathi has exercised his right of having the final say in the team selection. Also, today was the last date of sending the entries to the International Tennis Federation (ITF). “The ITF wouldn’t have accepted six names, so we have to send the final four. That’s why Paes and Bopanna have been kept as reserves,” SP Misra, AITA selection committee chairman, told The Tribune.   

However, by picking Ramkumar Ramanathan (ranked 269), Yuki Bhambri (307), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (325) and N Sriram Balaji (350), the AITA’s selection committee has somewhat defied logic. “Bhupathi has got some strategy up his sleeve which he isn’t revealing except at the time of the draw. He informed that he would like to have the composition this way. He wants the opposition guessing. It’s his thoughts and the selection committee went ahead with it. We don’t know what he has planned exactly,” Misra added.

By keeping Paes in the reserve category, Bhupathi might have stated the obvious that he doesn’t want Paes in his core group. There had even been talks that last month’s New Zealand tie could well be Paes’ last Davis Cup appearance for India as it was unlikely that he would play under Bhupathi’s captaincy. But, to everyone’s surprise, he was picked for the Uzbekistan tie.

However, what’s more intriguing is Bopanna’s demotion to the reserve list. With Bhupathi around, Bopanna was always expected to be preferred as a doubles specialist as the two share a great camaraderie off the court. A senior AITA official tried to decode the logic behind Bhupathi’s decision. “By naming Paes as a reserve, Bhupathi doesn’t want him to report for the tie. Paes might also think on the same line and won’t come to Bengaluru thinking he is in the reserve list. There’s no such worry for Bopanna, for he could always get into the final four with Bhupathi around. Looks like Bhupathi has done all the math in his mind,” the official said.

The players are scheduled to meet in Bengaluru on Sunday for their first practice session.