Leander Paes has been named in India's initial six-man Davis Cup squad to take on Uzbekistan in the upcoming Asia/Oceania Group I tie. The squad will be pruned to four, two weeks ahead of the tie after a fitness assessment.
The selection committee, which met in Delhi on Monday, named Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sriram Balaji, Paes and Rohan Bopanna in the squad for the tie, which will be held from April 7-9 in Bengaluru.
Explaining the rationale behind picking Paes, selection committee chairman SP Misra told ESPN, "We had to factor in (Denis) Istomin pulling off the singles rubbers on both days and field our best-possible doubles team which without a doubt would be Paes and Bopanna."
Istomin had upset Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year and played on all three days in the Davis Cup tie against South Korea to see Uzbekistan through.
Mahesh Bhupathi, who will make his debut as captain in the tie, commented on the selection, saying, "With the current roster of available players for the Davis Cup tie, I am confident that this is the strongest squad. My decision on the final competing team for the weekend will be based on their performances over the next three weeks and their fitness levels during the week of the tie."
Bhupathi was also optimistic about his tenure as Davis Cup captain, saying, "I look forward to a fruitful term as captain of the Davis Cup Team, and count on strong support from the boys and the AITA."
Coach Zeeshan Ali said one of the changes proposed by Bhupathi is with regard to the entire team turning out in identical jerseys through the tie, irrespective of whether they are on court or cheering from the sidelines. "The team must look like a team and identify as one unit," said Zeeshan. "Players have been informed about it and issues like ego tussles, which have taken place in the past, too have been discussed."
Adding that the playing four would almost entirely be the captain's call, he Ali said the selection panel chose to name a broader list of six players with the intent of not giving the opposition a heads-up. "Also, we didn't want a repeat of the Pune incident when Saketh [Myneni] was unaware of carrying an injury until a day before the draw," he said. "So we will have an independent agency assessing the fitness of all six players before the team is picked."
Paes' inclusion means he might have another shot at history. Currently tied at 42 wins with Italy's Nicola Pietrangeli, he's chasing the record for most number of Davis Cup doubles wins. Currently ranked 62, Paes, 43, who made his Davis Cup debut in 1990, has featured in 55 ties so far with a 42-13 win-loss record in doubles.
In the tie against New Zealand in February, after Myneni suffered a toe injury on the eve of the draw, Vishnu Vardhan was brought in as a last-minute replacement. Myneni is yet to recover from the injury, which ruled him out of this tie. Sumit Nagal too has been nursing a shoulder injury, making him unavailable for selection.
The Paes-Vardhan combination went on to lose the doubles rubber. It was Paes' second straight Davis Cup defeat, the previous one being against Spain in September last year.
Rankings too favour Paes now. According to Monday's fresh rankings, he is India's second highest doubles player (56) after Bopanna (23). This comes after he made the Dubai Championship semifinals alongside partner Marcin Matkowski, before losing to Bopanna and Florin Mergea.
The selection for the previous tie came under a lot of scrutiny after Bopanna was not picked, a decision which India's highest-ranked doubles player openly called to question.
In the aftermath, the AITA had hinted that it may not be possible to overlook higher-ranked players for Paes in future ties.