After Mahesh Bhupathi, India’s non-playing Davis Cup captain, picked Rohan Bopanna to fill the fourth slot in the team for the upcoming tie against Uzbekistan, veretran Leander Paes has hit back saying that selection criteria should be transparent.

“A captain can have his style, but criteria for selection should be transparent. If it was form, I just won an event,” Paes was quoted as saying by reporters ahead of the Davis Cup tie starting on Friday in Bangalore.

He added that a phone call would have been enough to inform him about his omission, implying that the news wasn’t conveyed to him directly.

However, he also said that team comes first. “That said, team is more important than me. Country is even bigger. My full support to the team,” was quoted as saying.

Earlier, an upbeat Paes had begun training even as India’s team combination was unconfirmed, after Yuki Bhambri’s injury-related withdrawal opened up a lot in the four-member team. The 43-year-old was seen practicing with coach Zeeshan Ali and other players, after coming to Bangalore from Leon, Mexico where he won the ATP Challenger tournament on Sunday, with Canada’s Adil Shamasdin.

Initially, Paes and Bopanna, both double-specialists, were kept in reserves by Bhupathi for the second-round tie. “The team has not yet been finalised. I have seen Leander for the first time today. Let us see how it goes. He looks fresh. He looks good. He is going to play some sets and then let us see,” India’s non-playing captain was quoted as saying.

The other members in India’s squad are Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and N. Sriram Balaji.

Had Paes been selected, he would have got another shot to break Italian Nicola Pietrangeli’s world record for most doubles win in Davis Cup history. He is currently tied on 42 wins, after losing the doubles in India’s first round Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in February.