Asian Games | Zeeshan Ali hints at pairing of Leander Paes and Ramkumar Ramanathan

Asian Games | Zeeshan Ali hints at pairing of Leander Paes and Ramkumar Ramanathan

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Captain Zeeshan Ali has hinted that India might pair Ramkumar Ramanathan and Leander Paes for the upcoming Asian Games on the former's request to pair him up with Paes. Initially, the pairing of Leander Paes and Sumit Nagal was being considered for the men's doubles event in the Asian Games.

Ramanathan has asked Zeeshan if he could be paired up with the experienced Leander Paes for the upcoming Asian Games. The original plan was Rohan Bopanna was to form a team with Divij Sharan, while Leander Paes was paired with Sumit Nagal for the men's doubles team in the Asian Games. Zeeshan has stated that they are contemplating Ramanathan's request and considering those two have played together before, they have a mutual understanding developed between them.

ā€œI will have a chat with the players when we reach there and then take a decision. There are a lot of different aspects to it. I donā€™t want to take any decision now but there is a possibility, considering, that Ram and Leander have played together in the past and know each otherā€™s game well,ā€ Zeeshan told PTI.

Ramanathan, who lost the ATP 250 title to Steve Johnson in the final, stated he would love to team up with Leander Paes for the Asian Games in Jakarta/Palembang. Previously, they were seen playing together at the Pune Challenger in 2016, where they reached till quarter-finals. Paes has been mentoring him since then. Ramanathan had credited Paes and Sanjay Singh for their invaluable inputs after he made it to the finals of World ATP Tour. He is also to play the singles in Asian Games along with Prajnesh Gunneswaran.

Zeeshan has cleared that the in-form player can play both the events if the condition arises. He has alsoĀ set the deadline for sign-in to give the ultimate combination as the singles event will start from August 19 followed by doubles on the very next day.

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