Davis Cup | India retain same team for Spain tie; Paes-Bopanna to play doubles

08/30/2016

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) selection committee on Tuesday retained the Indian team that played against South Korea for the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Spain. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will once again partner each other for the doubles match.

India will play against Spain in the Davis Cup World Group Play-Off Tie at the R K Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi from 16th to 18th Sep 2016. Saketh Myneni, who made it to the main round of the US Open recently, will play the singles matches along with Ramkumar Ramanathan. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna, who had crashed out in the first round in the Rio Olympics, will once again join hands for the doubles match.

The only change is in the reserve members of the squad. Southpaw Prajnesh Gunneswaran will replace Vishnu Vardhan in the reserve squad, while youngster Sumit Nagal continues to be a reserve.

When asked about whether they considered a different doubles pairing, AITA selection committee chief SP Misra said that this is not the time to experiment.

"We are playing Spain and it's not good time for experimenting. Leander and Rohan are the best pair we have. Ideally, we should have three singles players in the squad but since Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman are both injured, this option is closed for now," Misra told PTI.

Indian team:

1) Saketh Myneni

2) Ramkumar Ramanathan

3) Rohan Bopanna

4) Leander Paes

Reserve:

1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran

2) Sumit Nagal

Non-Playing Captain: Mr. Anand Amritraj

Coach: Mr. Zeeshan Ali.