Despite their tepid exit in the Olympics earlier this month, the All India Tennis Association persisted with the country's senior doubles players, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopaanna, for the Davis Cup group playoff tie against Spain in September. The two will team up for the doubles, while Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan have been chosen as the singles players.
This means that all four players who were a part of the squad that beat South Korea 4-1 in July have been retained. It is the reserve team where the changes come ringing in, with Prajnesh Gunneswaran and 19-year-old Sumit Nagal being picked, while Vishnu Vardan misses out.
The head of India's selection committee, SM Misra, said the importance of the tournament, combined with injuries to key players, was the reason behind going with an experienced lineup of players.
"We are playing Spain and it's not good time for experimenting," Mishra said. "Leander and Rohan are the best pair we have. Ideally, we should have three singles players in the squad, but since Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman are both injured, this option is closed for now," he added.
Paes and Bopanna had cruised to a comfortable win in straight sets against Korea in July. The match against Spain is scheduled to take place between September 16-18.
