The Indian Davis Cup team will be required to travel to Islamabad to compete in the World Group 1 Playoff tie against Pakistan, the International Tennis Federation’s Tribunal informed the All Indian Tennis Association on Saturday.
The tribunal rejected the Indian association’s request to shift the tie to a neutral venue, as reported by PTI, meaning that the men’s tennis team will have to cross the border to compete in the tie scheduled for February 3 and 4, at the Pakistan Sports Complex.
“I have got a message that the AITA’s [the Indian federation] appeal has been rejected by the ITF [international body] Tribunal,” AITA secretary general Anil Dhupar was quoted as saying by PTI.
“We will approach the Sports Ministry on Monday and seek guidance if we will send a team.”
India had previously been drawn to play against Pakistan in 2019. The tie was scheduled to take place in Pakistan since India had hosted the previous encounter between the two teams, in Mumbai in 2006. However, due to political tensions, the Indian federation, or AITA, successfully convinced the ITF to shift the tie to neutral Kazakhstan.
Pakistan’s top two players, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, withdrew from the tie in protest, leaving an inexperienced team to compete in the matches.
The last time an Indian Davis Cup team had travelled to Pakistan was in 1964, when Akhtar Ali, Premjit Lall and SP Misra helped the team to a 4-0 win in Lahore.
For the upcoming tie in February – in which the winner will be awarded a spot in World Group 1 – the AITA had announced the Indian squad earlier this month.
Ramkumar Ramanthan, the former India No 1, will headline the team. Yuki Bhambri, N Sriram Balaji, Saketh Myneni and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha are also present in the squad, but it is uncertain who will be the second singles player for the team.
Meanwhile youngster Digvijay Pratap Singh will come in as a reserve player.
India Tennis squad for Davis Cup tie against Pakistan
Players: Ramkumar Ramanathan, N Sriram Balaji, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha
Reserve: Digvijay Pratap Singh
Captain: Rohit Rajpal
Coach: Zeeshan Ali
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