The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced the team for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Spain scheduled for Sept. 16-18. Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan are the four players with Sumit Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the reserve. Anand Amritraj is the non-playing captain.
Paes and Bopanna, who suffered an unfortunate exit in the first round of the Rio Olympics, will feature in the doubles competition. With Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman both injured, AITA will hope for Myneni and Ramanathan to deliver the goods in the singles arena.
"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, who headed the AITA selection committee, told PTI.
This Davis Cup tie against Spain is not going to be easy without players like Yuki and Somdev, but India will rely heavily on Myneni in the singles competition. Spain is always a strong team in the Davis Cup.
The Delhi Lawn Tennis Association will host the matches under floodlights to ensure a good crowd at R.K. Khanna Tennis Complex. The winner of the clash will reach Davis Cup World Group 2017.
