A day after Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal denied allegations of any disciplinary breach, Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj contradicted the 19-year-old, and called for the All India Tennis Association to take action against the youngster, PTI reported.
Nagal was dropped from India’s Davis Cup team due to alleged off-field transgressions, which the player denied. Nagal said, “I have a long way to go in my career and I can promise is that I will never disrespect the flag or the country.”
Amritraj, though, quashed Nagal’s claims. “After reading the reports of the last two days about Sumit Nagal, here is what happened in Delhi during the Spain tie. On the Monday before the tie, Sumit showed up at the Hyatt in Delhi with a girl, in the process of checking in. Zeeshan [Ali] and I saw this,” Amritraj told PTI.
“That afternoon we had a chat with [AITA Secretary General] Hironmoy Chatterjee, and soon after, both Zeeshan and I sat down with Sumit and I told him it was not acceptable to have the girl there and that she should be sent home. He did this right away,” added Amritraj.
Amritraj also revealed details about a drinking episode involving Nagal. “On the issue of the cleaning out of the mini bar in Chandigarh, I had absolutely no idea this had happened at that time, till it was brought to my attention much later. If I had known this when I spoke to Sumit about the girl in Delhi, I would certainly have told him this was not acceptable behaviour either and should not happen again,” Amritraj said.
Nagal has found support in some of his peers. Recently retired Somdev Devvarman, in a letter, blasted AITA for leaking out details of Nagal’s alleged misdemeanours.
Amritraj too called for AITA to treat the situation in a delicate manner, “Sumit is a fine young man with a bright future in tennis. He is also just 19 years, and from my point of view, everyone including the AITA should cut him some slack. He should also be told, just as I did, that certain behaviour is unacceptable during Davis Cup weeks when you are representing the country and the flag. I’m sure he will have no problem with that,” Amritraj added.
Chatterjee, on the other hand, denied that AITA had leaked details about Nagal to the media, “Sumit is an upcoming player and has a very promising future. Issues, if any, relating to his conduct have been addressed by the Captain and the Coach confidentially as is the appropriate procedure,” Chatterjee said in a statement.