Tennis
Indian Davis Cup team for match against Pakistan announced
Ramkumar Ramanathan will lead India's challenge against Pakistan in Davis Cup as the team prepares to visit neighbours after 60 years.
Left to Right: Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni won the Asian Games men's doubles tennis silver on Friday.
Indian team for the Davis Cup World Group 1 play-off tie against Pakistan was announced on Saturday.
The team includes Ramakumar Ramanathan, N Shriram Balaji, Yuki Bhambri, Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha, Saketh Myneni, and Digvijay Pratap Singh, who is a reserve player in the squad.
Ramanathan and Poonacha could play singles while Yuki, Balaji, and Myneni could be picked for the doubles.
Rohit Rajpal will be the non-playing captain of the team and Zeeshan Ali will serve as the coach.
In a release, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced that the selection committee meeting was chaired by Nandan Bal and other members present were Balram Singh, Mustafa Ghouse, Sai Jayalakshmy, Rajpal, Zeeshan, and secretary Anil Dhupar.
India's top players Sumit Nagal and Sasikumar Mukund have pulled out of the tie, where the winning team will ensure its stay in World Group I for the rest of the 2024 season.
India last traveled to Pakistan in 1964 when they beat the hosts 4-0. India has never lost to Pakistan in the competition, having beaten them eight times.
India last played Pakistan at a neutral venue in 2019 and won 4-0.
India had requested ITF to relocate the tie to a neutral venue but the ITF Davis Cup Committee had rejected the appeal. India was drawn to meet Pakistan in Pakistan in 2019 also but the ITF had moved the tie to Kazakhstan on AITA's request and India emerged the winner with an emphatic 4-0 margin.
Pakistan's top players had then pulled out of the tie in protest against AITA's decision to not travel to their country. Pakistan fielded rookie players who were no match to India's strong team.
The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has already made it clear that it will not field its team if the ITF decides to shift the tie to a neutral venue again.
