Davis Cup | Rohan Bopanna axed, Mahesh Bhupathi appointed non-playing captain
Mahesh Bhupathi will take over as the non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup squad for a two-year term, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced. However, Anand Amritraj will continue as captain for the tie against New Zealand to be played in Pune in February.
In a surprise move, the AITA dropped India's highest-ranked men’s doubles player Rohan Bopanna for the New Zealand tie.
“When Rohan and Saketh (Myneni) played New Zealand last year, they lost to Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak in straight sets. And the way Saketh and Leander Paes played against Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal (World Group playoff), they almost upset them. So we thought pairing them was a better idea,” coach Zeeshan Ali, also part of the selection panel, told The Hindu.
The selection committee, headed by former Davis Cup captain S.P. Misra, brought back Yuki Bhambri. Myneni. Ramkumar Ramanathan, Paes and Prajnesh Gunneswaran complete the line-up. Youngsters Adil Kalyanpur and Nitin Kumar Sinha have been nominated to train with the team for the tie.
For the Fed Cup, Sania Mirza, along with India singles No. 1 Ankita Raina, will spearhead the team and returning Nandan Bal will be the team's captain and coach. National hardcourt and grasscourt champion Riya Bhatia has made the team along with Snehadevi Reddy, Karman Kaur Thandi and Prarthana Thombare.
Balram Singh, Bal, Rohit Rajpal, Zeeshan and AITA secretary-general Hironmoy Chatterjee were the other members of the selection committee that met on Thursday (Dec 22).
The team:
Davis Cup: Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Leander Paes and Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
Reserves: Adil Kalyanpur, Nitin Kumar Sinha.
Captain: Anand Amritraj; Coach: Zeeshan Ali.
Fed Cup: Sania Mirza, Ankita Raina, Snehadevi Reddy, Karman Kaur Thandi, Riya Bhatia, Prarthana Thombare.
Captain and coach: Nandan Bal.
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