Davis Cup row: Anand Amritraj blames Bhupathi for 'badly handling' Paes's exclusion from team

With the spat between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi getting uglier with each passing day, a couple of former Davis Cup captains and players have now waded into the controversy.

Anand Amritraj, from whom Bhupathi took over captaincy responsibilities in 2017, stated that while both parties were responsible for letting the problem get out-of-hand, as the captain, Bhupathi ought to have had exercised better management in handling the situation.

“It’s just a new chapter in [an] old story. It’s just tragic that it has cropped up again. There is fault on both sides. It was pretty badly handled by Mahesh. Why did Mahesh not send a mail to Leander and told him clearly that you are not in final four? If he had decided to pick Rohan [Bopanna] two months back, why keep [Leander] hanging?” Amritraj stated.

In choosing sides, who is better over whom?

Amritraj also questioned the reasoning adopted by Bhupathi about keeping his selection decision, of picking Bopanna over Paes, under wraps, until the day when the teams had to announce their nominations. “Did he want to fool the Uzbeks by picking four singles players? Nobody is going to get fooled like this,” countered Amritraj, before adding, “All this confusion could have been avoided. All Mahesh needed to do was send an e-mail to [Paes] that he was not being considered in final four and mark a copy to [the] All India Tennis Association.”

As regards Bhupathi emphasising that Paes’ decision to leave the team in the middle of the tie was “like the final nail in the coffin”, Amritraj noted that Paes wasn’t required to be along with the team given that he wasn’t selected as a playing member. Commenting further, he said, “What’s the point in hanging around? The team was already 2-0 up after day one. It was better if he left for the US and got acclimatised to the conditions for the next tournament. There was no point leaving on Monday. [Paes] should not have put himself for humiliation. He should not have come to Bangalore.”

Vishal Uppal, who was part of the Indian Davis Cup squad in 2000 and 2002, mentioned that Bhupathi’s sharing of his private conversations with Paes was contrary to his stature as the team captain.

“He should not have done that because he is captain of the team, he has to be a bigger statesman. It’s unfortunate this drama is playing out again,” shared Uppal. Pointing out the adverseness of the current happening on the younger players, Uppal went on to add, “This saga will continue and Indian tennis will be hurt. Making a personal chat public does not make sense and that was the grouse players had with AITA. The youngsters are again caught in [the] quagmire of [the] Leander- Mahesh saga.”

Picking Bhupathi, the skipper over Paes, the player

Jaidip Mukerjea, who found himself dragged into the tussle between the two veterans after Bhupathi commented on how Paes had ended Mukerjea’s captaincy stint way back in 1994, backed the newly appointed captain over Paes.

Mukerjea, who referred to Paes “as no spring chicken”, said that the 43-year-old’s talking to the media before the commencement of the tie was untimely. “When the team was announced and Leander went to the media before the Davis Cup, that was in bad taste. He could have done it after the tie was over. Just before the players are going to play, it affects the morale,” said Mukerjea.

The 74-year-old concluded by saying that while Paes was unarguably India’s most successful tennis – and Davis Cup – player, the current lineup represented the nation’s future in the tournament. Thus, according to Mukerjea, “Leander is one of the greatest Indian players, but he is 43. His contribution for the country has been enormous. [But] this team is the future.”