After sitting out of the Asian Games 2018, citing lack of respect from the Indian Tennis federation, veteran Leander Paes was on Tuesday dropped from the Indian Davis Cup squad for their World Group away fixture against Serbia.
The pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan – who together won the men’s doubles gold at the 18th Asian Games – will once again be playing the doubles while India’s top-ranked singles player Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan and bronze medallist Prajnesh Gunneswaran will represent the country in the three singles matches. Saketh Myneni has also been selected, while Sumit Nagal was left out of the squad.
“Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan are in red-hot form and they just clinched the Asiad gold so they deserve to be in the team without a doubt,” selection committee chairman S.P. Mishra was quoted as saying by Deccan Chronicle.
Also Read: Asian Games 2018: Bopanna, Sharan win gold in men’s doubles
Paes, who sat out of the Asiad is currently ranked 80th in the ATP rankings and will be partnering James Cerretani in the US Open doubles.
Although it is believed that the 45-year-old’s decision to skip the intercontinental event was a reason behind his omission, the selection committee headed by Mishra informed that there was no such thing.
“As far as Paes’ absence from the Davis Cup team is concerned he has not played much this year and his ranking is also low. Paes’ absence from the Asian Games has nothing to do with the Davis Cup team. We picked the team purely on the basis of rankings,” said Mishra to the daily.
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Meanwhile, coach Zeeshan Ali also expressed his disappointment at Paes’ decision to skip the opportunity to represent his country.
“We cannot doubt Paes’ credibility; he will remain one of the best players of our country. He skipped the Asian Games for reasons best known to him. Maybe he wanted to improve his ATP rankings rather than playing for the country at Asiad,” said Zeeshan delighted with the new combination of Bopanna-Sharan.
The matches are slated to be held at the Kraljevo Sports Venue in Serbia from September 14 to 16.
Full Squad: Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna, Divij Sharan, Saketh Myneni.