Bopanna axed from Indian Davis Cup squad

Mahesh Bhupathi to become India’s Davis Cup captain after NZ tie in February

Mahesh-Bhupathi
Mahesh Bhupati will be India’s non playing captain in Davis Cup after February. File Pic

Internet Desk: Former US Open finalist and two- time Olympian Rohan Bopanna has been dropped from the Indian Davis Cup squad for the tie against New Zealand in Pune from February 3-5.

The AITA selection committee comprising S P Misra, Rohit Rajpal, Nandan Bal, Zeeshan Ali and secretary Hiranmoy Chatterjee decided that Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni will be the preferred choice for their good show against Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez in the previous Davis Cup tie against Spain.

While Bopanna’s world ranking is 28, Paes is currently 59 and Myneni is 210 in the ATP doubles ranking list.

“Picking Rohan blocks a place for a third singles player that we wanted to have in the squad. Also Leander and Saketh were brilliant against Spain. But whenever Leander and Rohan have played together, they have not done well. Take Czech Republic tie as an example,” national selector Misra told reporters here today.

“The other factor being Rohan being an ad court player.

Even Saketh is an ad court player while Leander prefers deuce court (right side of the court). If we pick Rohan and Saketh, then we have two ad court players. Even Rohan and Saketh have not done well as a pair,” Misra said.

In a meeting over a conference call the AITA has appointed Mahesh Bhupathi as the non-playing captain for the India Davis Cup team. In the process, Anand Amritraj will continue to hold the post for first Davis Cup tie of the year against New Zealand in the Asia Oceania zone in Pune.

The tie against New Zealand will be Anand Amritraj’s last tie as non-playing captain. AITA wants to give Amritraj a “farewell”, and hence have decided to make the change after the next tie.

“Everybody should get a chance to be the captain. No post stays with one person forever. I personally spoke to Bhupathi and asked if he was available…he said ‘yes’. That was it. Also, we wanted to given Amritraj a farewell tie,” AITA Secretary General Hiranmoy Chatterjee said.

On being asked if Amritraj was happy with the decision, Chatterjee tersely repeated: “No one wants to go. But everyone deserves a chance to be the captain.”

Asked if other players were taken into confidence before making the decision, since they had all rallied around Amritraj at some point, Chatterjee replied: “It’s not their prerogative. We don’t need to consult the players. Even Leander Paes was not consulted.”

Speaking on the strained relationship between Paes and Bhupathi and whether the latter’s elevation could prove to be the end of the road for the former, Chatterjee said: “We will cross that bridge when it comes.”

On being asked if Amritraj’s tendency to give leeway to players as far as discipline was concerned and his propensity to express his views openly in the media was a problem, the AITA top official did not deny.

“When a committee meets, we discuss a lot of things. But let me tell you that we did not receive any letter of support from the players,” he asserted.

Chatterjee also said that no communication had been made with either Somdev Devvarman or Ramesh Krishnan regarding the coach and non-playing captain’s role. Chatterjee also said that Bhupathi had not demanded any special favours.

“He has not demanded anything and simply said yes to the job. As far as remuneration is concerned, he will be paid as per our Davis Cup payment slab,” Chatterjee said.