India’s top two men’s singles players – Sumit Nagal and Sasikumar Mukund, have refused to travel to Pakistan for the country’s upcoming Davis Cup tie against the neighbours.
As per a report in PTI, Nagal has opted out of the tie because it will be played on grass court – a surface which does not suit his style, while Mukund has cited personal reasons for his unavailability.
India’s Davis Cup tie against Pakistan is a World Group I play-off and is slated to be played in February next year.
“This is wrong. When it’s a question of serving the country why would you not do it ? I have put the matter in the hands of the Executive Committee,” the All India Tennis Federation’s secretary general Anil Dhupar was quoted as saying in the report.
“There is no choice for players if they want to represent India,” he added. “My theory is simple. But I am nobody to take a call. The call has to be taken by the Executive Committee. If the player is sick and injured, I can understand but this is not the first time that Mukund has made himself unavailable for national duty. He has done it twice.”
Placed 141st in the ATP rankings, Nagal is the highest ranked Indian player followed by Mukund at 477.
The duo’s absence would force India to fall back on the experience of Ramkumar Ramanathan and the young Digvijay Pratap Singh, who made his Davis Cup debut a couple of months ago in Lucknow against Morocco.
The All India Tennis Federation had previously appealed and tried to shift the tie out of Pakistan, but the Davis Cup committee had then rejected the proposal.
The last time an Indian tennis team travelled to Pakistan was more than 59 years ago in 1964. They had then beaten their arch-rivals 4-0.