Former India Davis Cup skipper Naresh Kumar thinks that the teaming up of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi can help the Indian team in their upcoming tie against Uzbekistan in April, according to a report published in the Times of India.
Kumar, who was speaking to the gathered media at the ongoing qualifiers for the Rendez-vous a Roland Garros event in Kolkata, was also quick to caution that the erstwhile partners needed to work objectively without allowing their previous differences of opinion to crop up again. “Of course, I welcome the move. Two or three years ago all these fights were taking place, we have to get out of that. It’s a very good sign if they are going to come together.”
Bhupathi and Paes formed a formidable doubles partnership for India for over 16 years and won 25 ATP doubles title together, including three Majors. In the Davis Cup, the duo stitched a comprehensive record of 23 doubles rubber victories on the trot, right up to the 2010 World Group Play-offs against Brazil that India won 3-2.
The 42-year-old Bhupathi was announced as the Indian team’s non-playing captain at the start of 2017. He took over the captaincy responsibilities from Anand Amritraj, who oversaw his last Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in Pune, in February.
The six-man team for the Asia/Oceania Group II tie features Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and N Sriram Balaji. The team’s final four-member roster will be nominated two weeks prior to the tie’s schedule, from April 7 to 9.
Heading into the tie, a primary area of focus is that of Paes going past Nicola Pietrangeli’s longstanding record of 42 doubles rubber wins.
Speaking about the potentiality of that win, the 88-year-old Kumar pointed out, “It’s a very difficult question. If you watch Leander’s mixed doubles matches, and you watch closely he will win the crucial points. You have to have panache to be still doing that, and confidence. The other boys maybe better players, but on the crucial occasion this fellow is putting his neck forward. So that’s his greatest quality.”
