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India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal on Friday returned to the Davis Cup team for the World Group I tie against Sweden but Yuki Bhambri has opted out of the September 14-15 contest, where former national champion Ashutosh Singh will serve as the new coach of the national team. Nagal had missed the historic tie against Pakistan in Islamabad on grass court but the in-form player is back to lead the national team for the indoor hard-court contest in Stockholm.
Sasikumar Mukund, who is the third-highest ranked player at number 476, was not considered for selection as he is serving a two-tie suspension for his refusal to play the Pakistan tie early this year.
Apart from Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, N Sriram Balaji, Niki Poonacha, who made his debut against Pakistan, and former national champion Siddharth Vishwakarma are part of the squad. Aryan Shah has been named as the reserve player.
Yuki is the number one doubles player for India in Davis Cup now that Rohan Bopanna has retired. Since Yuki is not available, Ramkumar may be asked to play both singles and doubles.
“Yuki was not available for selection and he has not given any reason for his non-availability,” selection committee chairman Nandan Bal told PTI.
“We were given a list of available players and his name did not figure there, so we picked players who were available,” added Bal.
An AITA source said Yuki was not happy that he was not picked for the Paris Olympics. “It was Rohan’s decision to play with Balaji. AITA just endorsed that decision. He was a top-10 player and has the privilege to pick his partner, AITA can’t be blamed for that,” said the source.
When contacted, Yuki confirmed that he had opted out of the tie but did not give the reason for his decision. Rohit Rajpal will also come back to captain the side, having skipped the Pakistan tie due to personal reasons.
“We will try all combinations. It could be Niki and Balaji, or Balaji and Ramkumar. We have already started working on this. Let’s see where we settle.”
An AITA source said, “Mukund was handed a two-tie suspension by the Executive Committee for his consistent refusal to play for the national team. He did it three times in a row, so he was not to be considered for two ties. This is the first tie and he will not be considered in the next one too.”
After Zeeshan Ali quit as Davis Cup coach, the AITA had two options: Delhi player Ashutosh Singh, who was known for his serve-and-volley style of play during his playing days, and M Balachandran, who had recently travelled with the men’s doubles team to the Paris Olympics.
“The choice for the coach was discussed with the players and most of them wanted Ashutosh to be the coach,” said the AITA source adding that the names of Somdev Devvarman and Aditya Sachdeva also came up for discussion.
AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar said the Executive Committee appoints only the captain and the appointment of the coach was done by the office bearers of the federation. “Captain Rohit Rajpal had discussed it with the players and we approved it. EC meeting was not required for the appointment of coach,” Dhupar said.
Ashutosh Singh’s sister Shalini has served as the Fed Cup captain in the past and his father, Balram Singh, is a respected figure in Delhi tennis circle. Balram is also part of the AITA selection committee.
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