Indian Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi has said the decision to not include veterans Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna in the four-man Davis Cup squad to take on Uzbekistan in Bengaluru from April 7-9 was taken based on their current form. Paes and Bopanna were named as reserves for the Asia/Oceania second-round tie where Bhupathi will make his debut as captain. Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sriram Balaji were selected in the four-man squad.
However, Bhupathi clarified that both Paes and Bopanna remain in contention to play and said he would take a final call in the days leading up to the tie. Under the rules, Bhupathi retains the option to announce his final combination till the morning of the draw ceremony, which is held a day before the tie.
"Bala, Prajnesh and Yuki have all been playing very well," Bhupathi told ESPN from Dubai. "They have won a lot of singles matches, Bala has won singles and doubles over the last 4-5 weeks. That just gives me a chance to see them better next week before picking my final team on the 6th.
"This is my team for now. Obviously I have picked them on form. The way I want to continue down my captaincy is you need to give everyone an opportunity and results need to speak. These boys have won a lot of matches coming in, both Leander and Rohan haven't. But that doesn't mean they won't get to play because if the practice weeks throws up something that I haven't noticed then I always have the opportunity to change."
As Bhupathi points out, both Bopanna and Paes have been struggling for form in recent weeks. Paes, who hasn't clinched an ATP tour men's doubles title for over two years, has won just 5 of his 12 matches this year. Bopanna made a bright start to the year by winning the Chennai Open but his recent results have been patchy, with early-round defeats in Rotterdam, Marseille and Indian Wells, with the exception of an appearance in the final in Dubai earlier this month with Poland's Marcin Matkowski. Bopanna is ranked 23 in the individual doubles rankings at the moment to Paes' 57.
Bhupathi insists he weighed up those results as well as the unique demands of a Davis cup tie before arriving at his decision. While speaking to ESPN after the initial six-man squad was named earlier this month, Bhupathi had said his preference for the tie against Uzbekistan would be to field a team combination of three singles players and one doubles specialist. He clarified that while he still preferred that option, he has identified Balaji, who is ranked 350 in singles and 244 in doubles, as the man for the job.
"My preference is still for a 3-1 combination. Bala plays both singles and doubles and he plays better doubles than singles, his ranking shows that. For me at the end of the day I need to win three points and having players who can play singles and doubles is a benefit for me. Unfortunately, in the Indian team we are always struggling with injuries. So after a long first day I need to have the option to play different singles guys on day three."
Although Bopanna and Paes didn't respond to ESPN's request for a comment, Bhupathi is convinced that he will face no difficulty in bringing them on board with the decision. He also confirmed that neither Paes nor Bopanna were made aware that they had been consigned to the reserves before the team was announced by the AITA.
"If I start to get a buy in from all my players before the team is announced I think you and me know where that is going to end up," Bhupathi said. "I have communicated to everybody on the team including AITA that I will have a six-member squad that will be rotating for the next two years. All six of them have told me that regardless if they are in the six or the four, they are happy to come because India comes first. That is the way I am going to approach it. Just before I announce the team I don't need to take anyone's approval, especially the players, that's for sure.
"The conditions in Bangalore are going to be different from where they have been playing with the altitude. So if I see something that catches my eye during the practice week, I always have that option to change. They will be all on board, there are no issues there. I told them all my thinking two months ago when I was appointed captain. I don't need to constantly go back to them for permission otherwise I wouldn't be appointed captain."
Bhupathi will arrive in Bengaluru on Monday to take charge of the squad and is hopeful that his players will arrive in the city injury-free. Gunneswaran, ranked 325th in the world, recently won two ITF singles titles in Trivandrum and Chhattisgarh. Balaji also won an ITF title in Jorhat, Assam in February as did Bhambri in Chandigarh. Ramanthan won his last title at an ITF tournament in Doha in December. Bhupathi believes the players available for him to pick from gives India the best chance of consistent Davis cup success in the years ahead.
"We need to bring a team that is young," he said. "I am the first captain in 25 years who is fortunate enough to have a group of 10 players to choose from. Indian tennis has never seen that before, there have always been two, maximum two and a half options. From Vijay & Ramesh to Ramesh & Leander to Leander & Mahesh etc. I have a pool of 10 players if you add Saketh (Myneni), Sumit (Nagal), Purav (Raja) and Divij (Sharan) so it is a great situation to be in. Sure we don't have that one rock in the top 100. But Davis Cup is Davis Cup, as long as we can all play as a team and support each other, I think we can find a way to get back into the World Group."