Veteran doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi made a comeback for national duty as a five-member Indian team for the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan was announced here on Tuesday.

As non-playing captain, an injured Leander Paes will lead the team which also includes youngsters like Prakash Amritraj, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Varman. The home tie will be played here from February 8-10.

Bhupathi’s return was expected as the doubles ace is required to represent the country to be eligible to participate in Beijing Olympics.

The Bangalore-based player did not play in India’s last Davis Cup outing against the Uzbeks after his spat with Paes during the Doha Asian Games in December 2006. In the away tie in Uzbekistan, India — comprising Paes, Vivek Shokeen, Karan Rastogi and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya — had fared poorly and lost 1-4 to the hosts.

While Bhupathi will provide depth and experience to the Indian team, National hard court winner Ashutosh Singh and National grass court winner Vishnu Vardhan will be on the stand-bye to meet any exigency. Meanwhile, chances of Paes taking the field cannot be ruled out during the home tie.

“He (Paes) is upset as he was keen to play. He said, ‘although I am not well, I will be very much there’,” AITA Secretary Anil Khanna said.

Selection Committee chairman Anil Dhupar also did not rule out the possibility of Paes, who is suffering from a twisted ankle, playing in the tie. “He is being treated. We will see how he recovers,” he said, adding as per the new Davis Cup rules two players can be changed even before one hour before the draw.

The AITA also made one change in the team for the Fed Cup, which will be played in Bangkok from January 28. US-based Shikha Uberoi replaced injured Tara Iyer in the team, which also has Sania Mirza, Sunitha Rao and Isha Lakhani.

Apart from India and hosts Thailand, other participating teams in the competition will be Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand and Uzbekistan.