India's Davis Cup squad for Uzbekistan tie is a welcome change, but a lot of questions still linger

The selection of the Indian Davis Cup team for their forthcoming Asia/Oceania Group I second-round tie against Uzbekistan in April has been carried out sedately. Specifically, there has been utmost clarity on the essence of the team composition, not just in the six-man core team bracket, but also in the inclusion of the two junior players, to give them necessary grooming to takeover the reins in the future.

In doing so, it also then seems as if the All India Tennis Association’s selection panel has tried to rectify its previous high-handedness on the subject, taking a cue from its shambolic handling of the team selection for India’s tie against New Zealand, back in February.

The team’s newly elected captain, Mahesh Bhupathi, too, has sought to make the breakdown of the eventual – and final – decision simpler. In spite of these positives, certain questions regarding the team selection still do linger.

Will potentially selecting a team of only singles players help the Indians?

“If you ask me to tell you right now, because of the depth of the Uzbekistan team, I would prefer to play three singles [players] and a doubles [player], but there is no reason it can’t change in next few weeks,” said Bhupathi, once the selection committee’s decision was announced. The 42-year-old was, however, equally non-committal. “The [final] team will be chosen the day before the draw. I am not sure who is going to play doubles. I am not sure if I am going to have any doubles players at all, but whatever needs to win I will make sure that happens.”

As a former Davis Cup-per, well-aware of the nuances that underline the nature – and crux – of the teams in the tournament, Bhupathi is justified in emphasising on singles over doubles. At the same time, despite having gone through the experience of (successfully) representing the country in 35 ties that predominantly included a boisterous doubles timeline, there looks to be undue urgency in Bhupathi’s apparent leaning towards having an entirety of singles players in the actual four-man team of player nominees.

The Davis Cup format does primarily revolve around the four singles rubbers played on the first and last day of the tie, on either side of the doubles match. From the Indian standpoint, though, irrespective of the team’s rout of New Zealand, singles still continue to pose a conundrum, which essentially thrusts the brunt of the tie onto doubles.

Thus, while Bhupathi is also well-placed in his assessment about other countries not opting for specialist doubles players and instead selecting an impromptu doubles team from the available quartet, it would be unmistakable to ignore that for almost all these teams, if not all, singles always takes precedence over doubles. With captains keen on using doubles as a leveraging factor to double up any potential lead the team may have on the opening day’s play.

The never-ending Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna confusion

If, on the contrary, Bhupathi does continue with the conventionality of choosing three singles players and one doubles player in his rota, he has an even tougher task in picking from between Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes.

Undeniably, from the ranking perspective, the 23rd ranked Bopanna would be the first choice to make it to the squad. However, with Paes still defying his age by putting up performances that belie ranking, it would be imprudent to look over him as a preferential choice, even more particularly when weighed in on the ranking’s aspect, since he’s the country’s second highest ranked doubles player after Bopanna.

The focus vis-à-vis Paes’ potential inclusion, however, has veered pointedly towards him getting to the long-cherished record of 43 doubles rubbers’ wins. Being an individual sport as tennis is, it’s not hard to understand why personal records do matter. But in a team-oriented format like the Davis Cup, the vested interest invariably tilts in favour of the team, and the country, rather than the player himself. Both Paes and Bhupathi have had similar thoughts on putting the squad before the player, irrespective of how hard the decision may come to be.

It will, however, be harder for Bhupathi to make that final call without being perceived to be biased, towards one former partner over the other. Bhupathi has then been keen to bring about inclusiveness in the team, overriding any past biases that have had dotted his playing career. Nonetheless, his objectivity will be tested to the fullest in his team selection, with the slightest of missteps marking the divisive re-appearance of the not-so dormant fault-lines within the Indian tennis fraternity.