Zeeshan Ali recalls Leander Paes' epic Davis Cup debut

CHANDIGARH: "That was almost a quarter century ago."
Indian Davis Cup team coach Zeeshan Ali leaned back in his chair and reacted with a sense of pride. He had just been reminded about Leander Paes' debut Davis Cup game, a tie against Japan in 1990 in Chandigarh.
Zeeshan partnered Paes in the doubles match against the Japanese pair of Ota and Matsuoka. Paes, who was just 17 at that time, was brought into the squad as a reserve player but went on to partner Zeeshan for the doubles match after being given the nod to play by non-playing captain Naresh Kumar.
The Paes-Zeeshan duo won the match in the fifth set, by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 18-16 margin, as the battle lasted more than five hours. That fifth set is still the longest in Indian Davis Cup history.
"It was his (Paes') first match and he was 17 at that time. We were all very young and playing against a team like Japan, which had players who had just reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals. So obviously it was a big thing for us. It was a big moment for Leander," Zeeshan reminisced.
"It will be a big moment for Saketh and Ramkumar as they will also play their first match in Davis Cup here. That's the beauty of Davis Cup. It's completely different from the individual events and I still remember when Leander and I played a five-hour-long match, and we won by 18-16 in the fifth set. Definitely a great start in Davis Cup for Leander," he added.