26 April 2014, 07:03 PM IST
Somdev Deevarman's young side — Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh, Rohan Bopanna and Seketh Myneni — did well to come through the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group One pool. The reward for that is a World Group play-off tie against mighty Serbia in September (12-14).
The side was without the services of superstar veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi so far this season as they chose to sit out of the team competition. Paes, 40, asked not to be considered for selection, while multiple Grand Slam champion Bhupathi, more businessman than tennis pro today, has failed to make the cut in recent times.
The duo, one-time friends, now barely on talking terms, who between them have played 85 ties for the country, however, were quick to put up their hands, saying they're available for the World Group play-off in September. While their enthusiasm is understandable even given their considerable numbers, it's perhaps time to let the boys complete a job they started. When the selectors sit down to pick the team in July that should be prime consideration.
Paes, evergreen and eager, with a staggering 88/32 win-loss record in the competition, said he was available in any capacity, captain or player while Bhupathi simply said he was 'always available for India'. It's as yet unclear, however, if the twosome were available only for the high-voltage play-off tie or if their availability extended to the Incheon Asian Games that follows less than five days after the completion of the tie.
Meanwhile the present side, captained by former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj and which has the stylish 44-year-old Zeeshan Ali as coach, a young team more by experience than age, with less than 40 Cup ties between them, which is less than the number of ties Paes alone has played, have done commendably to come together a team.
Indian tennis long wrecked by player divide which administrators used to their advantage, the Amritraj-Krishnan feud lasted a couple of generation after which Paes and Bhupathi were at logger heads for almost 15 years. Fortunately for the fresh crop of players, the torcher-bearer of the new generation refused to take any side in the political divide.
Instead Somdev turned his fight against the Association demanding better facilities and remuneration for the players in a bid to lift the state of the game in the country.
A fight, which when it first spilled onto public consciousness, looked set to divide the young crop of players, saw the pros put up an united front. The biggest gain from the year-long players-officials stand-off was that Indian tennis now had a bunch of certified warriors if not the most skilled of players.
Interestingly the players are more united than they've ever been. Not even untimely reverses like Ramanathan Ramkumar's shocker of a win over Somdev in the first round of the Chennai Open in January and Yuki's upset win over Somdev, older and higher ranked, in the semifinals of the Chennai Challenger in February rocked the boat.
Bopanna explained, "we've all been in tennis long enough to understand that one swallow does not a summer a make. You need consistency, not for nothing does Som have a top-100 ranking. We all respect that."
So much so that when India goes up against Novak Djokovic's Serbia in September their biggest weapon is a unified team, no cracks, just cheer. "We back each other, we believe in each other. And these aren't just words," Yuki, the youngest member of the team, said.
It's a team anybody would want to be a part of, but for now, maybe, just maybe, the combination shouldn't be tampered with.
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