Yuki, Myneni return; Paes dropped

Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni reclaimed their places, while the veteran multiple doubles Grand Slam winner Leander Paes was ignored for India’s Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Canada.

Yuki and Saketh had missed the tie against Uzbekistan in Bengaluru due to injuries, but have been back on the circuit since then. However, Paes’ omission from the squad was not surprising with non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi making his preference clear of having three singles players and one doubles player in the team. Rohan Bopanna, fresh from winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open, is currently the highest ranked doubles player at 17. Paes is ranked 59.

Paes made an acrimonious exit in the middle of the previous tie in Bengaluru after he was picked in the six-member squad but not in the final four. It led to Bhupathi disclosing his conversation with Paes on how he had never promised him a place in final four.

The AITA selectors, however, assured the doors were not closed on 44-year-old Paes, who is just a win away from the Davis Cup record of most doubles wins.

Meanwhile, the selection committee also announced the teams for Asian Indoor Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from September 17-127. The men’s team comprises Vishnu Vardhan, Sumit Nagal, Sidharth Rawat and Vijay Sundar Prashanth. Former national champion Ashutosh Singh has been named the coach.

The women’s team has Ankita Raina, Prarthana Thombare, Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal and National champion Riya Bhatia. The team will be coached by Ankita Bhambri.

Davis Cup team: Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna; Reserves: Prajnesh Gunneswaran, N Sriram Balaji.