Former US Open finalist Rohan Bopanna has been dropped from India’s Davis Cup squad for the tie against New Zealand in Pune from February 3 to February 5, PTI reported. The selection committee of the All India Tennis Association said it preferred to pair Leander Paes with Saketh Myneni.

“Picking Rohan blocks a place for a third singles player that we wanted to have in the squad,” national selector SP Misra said. “Leander and Saketh were brilliant against Spain, but whenever Leander and Rohan played together, they did not do well.”

Misra further explained that including Bopanna in the squad would mean having two ad court players as Myneni, too, prefers the same side of the court. “We don’t know for how long [43-year-old] Leander will be playing. Rohan [who is 36] is much younger and can always make a comeback,” he added.

Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan are the other two members chosen to be part of the team. Earlier on Thursday, the AITA had named veteran Mahesh Bhupathi the non-playing captain of India’s Davis Cup side. He will replace Anand Amritraj after the New Zealand tie.