Davis Cup: India retain team for Spain tie; Leander Paes-Rohan Bopanna to play doubles

New Delhi: The AITA selection committee on Tuesday retained the doubles pairing of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna for the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Spain, scheduled for 16-18 September.

The Committee, headed by S P Misra, retained all four playing members of the squad that beat Korea Korea 4-1 last month with Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan to do the singles duty.

The only change is in the reserve members of the squad with southpaw Prajnesh Gunneswaran replacing Vishnu Vardhan. Youngster Sumit Nagal continues to be reserve.

Asked if they considered a different doubles pairing, Misra replied in a negative.

“We are playing Spain and it’s not good time for experimenting. Leander and Rohan are the best pair we have. Ideally, we should have three singles players in the squad but since Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman are both injured, this option is closed for now,” Misra told PTI.

Bopanna and Paes had won against a weak Korean combination in the previous tie and then lost in the opening round of the Rio Olympic Games.

Indian team: 1) Saketh Myneni 2) Ramkumar Ramanathan 3) Rohan Bopanna 4) Leander Paes Reserve: 1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran 2) Sumit Nagal Non Playing Captain: Mr Anand Amritraj Coach: Mr Zeeshan Ali.