Mahesh Bhupathi will take over as the captain of the Indian Davis Cup squad for a two-year term, but Anand Amritraj has been retained as the captain for the tie against New Zealand to be played at Pune in February.
The selection committee, which met under the chairmanship of former Davis Cup captain S.P. Misra, brought Yuki Bhambri back into the squad but did not take doubles star Rohan Bopanna even though he had expressed his availability.
Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Leander Paes and Prajnesh Gunneswaran will be the other members of the squad. Two youngsters Adil Kalyanpur and Nitin Kumar Sinha have been nominated to train with the team for the tie.
For the Fed Cup, the National hardcourt and grasscourt champion Riya Bhatia has made the team along with Snehadevi Reddy, Karman Kaur Thandi and Prarthana Thombare.
The World No. 1 in doubles, Sania Mirza, will spearhead the team along with India singles No. 1 Ankita Raina. Former captain Nandan Bal returns to the team as captain and coach.
Balram Singh, Nandan Bal, Rohit Rajpal, coach Zeeshan Ali along with the secretary-general of the All India Tennis Association Hironmoy Chatterjee were the other members of the selection committee which met on Thursday.
After a strong defence by Anand Amritraj, on matters regarding discipline in the team for the last three years that were floating freely in the media, and the staunch support from the players, it was perhaps difficult for the selection committee to be harsh on him straightaway.
Our Principal Correspondent from Bengaluru adds:
The decision to not choose Bopanna for the tie against New Zealand was “straightforward,” said Zeeshan.
“When Rohan and Saketh [Myneni] played New Zealand last year, they lost to Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak in straight sets,” Zeeshan told The Hindu . “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.”
Also, the fact that Anand Amritraj wanted three singles players in the team didn’t help Bopanna’s cause. Against South Korea both Saketh and Ramkumar Ramanathan struggled with their fitness which in turn forced Bopanna, who had last played singles in 2012, to play the albeit inconsequential reverse singles match.
“The decision to have an additional single player was based on past experience,” said Zeeshan. “God forbid if something happens to either of the two singles guys, you will still have a backup. That was our thinking.”
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.
