For the ailing Indian tennis hit by the controversy which saw the big names pull out of national team for the Davis Cup tie against South Korea this month-end in Delhi, Hyderabad-based Dr. B. Nithin Kumar might just be the perfect answer to the players’ prayers.
For, this 36-year-old Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Yasodha Hospital (Secunderabad) has been named as the team doctor (sports medicine) for the crucial Davis Cup tie.
Thanks to the initiative of London-based Dr. Andrew Wallace with whom Dr Nithin did his fellowship in UK before returning to India, the Hyderabadi got this assignment.
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“I look at this Davis Cup as a major challenge and the first big step to serve Indian sport in a big way,” says the doctor with MBBS, MRCS and MCH (Ortho), FRCS Tr & Ortho (UK).
In fact, Dr Wallace and Dr. Andy Williams are rated as the best in the business and who also treated big stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Youraj Singh in the past.
For someone who played tennis for seven years and having led Manipal University in cricket too, Dr Nithin should know what an athlete requires. “I have decided to serve the needy and especially the sports fraternity by giving the right kind of treatment to sport-related injuries and also educate them on how and what to do to steer clear of this threat,” he explains in a chat with ‘The Hindu’ on Monday.
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This articulate doctor is also aware of the huge expectations for steps into the shoes of the more familiar Dr. Vece Paes (father of Leander Paes) who was with the Davis Cup squad for a long time.
“I am aware of the controversy. But, I am more focused on what I am expected to do,” says the Hyderabadi.
Coming from a family of doctors - his father Dr. Satyanarayana Rao and wife Dr. Shruti are well-known in their subjects, Dr Nithin is all excited but not tense at all about his first major sports assignment.
“Definitely, I look forward to bigger challenges for I love sports, “ he signs off.