The Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie between India and Uzbekistan ended in the way it had started — the Leander Paes issue looming large
Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Bhupathi's daughter
Leander Paes
Bangalore: The Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie between India and Uzbekistan ended in the way it had started — the Leander Paes issue looming large. Once India's non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi began to throw light into the headline-grabbing omission of the Kolkatan, everything else, including India's overwhelming 4-1 victory, faded into background yesterday at the KSLTA Stadium. "We had given Leander a chance to be in the six. He agreed to it and then sulking about not being in the final four was unprofessional on the part of Paes. He should not boast about criteria much. Form is just one of the things that I consider before selecting a player. There are five such aspects," said Bhupathi in a sharp reply to his old mate's allegations of unceremoniously dumping him.
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Bhupathi made it clear that as captain of the side he had always kept Paes in the loop about the team news. "I had reached out to him as captain. I had sent him text messages on March 30 about the team combination that I was looking for — one doubles player and three singles specialists. I had also given him the liberty not to travel to Bangalore. "Other players by then had reached the venue and started training. I was not sure of the doubles team till Wednesday and I had told as much to other players too. But things unfortunately went out of hand and fortunately we stuck together as a team and overcame it," said Bhupathi.
Mahesh Bhupathi with his daughter on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Rohan Bopanna echoed similar sentiments. "I didn't know I was going to be part of the team, but I was here to train ahead of the tie. As a senior that's the best I could have done, be with the junior players and share your experience with them and ease their nerves," said Bopanna taking a veiled dig at Paes.
Despite being a member of the six-member squad, Paes made a quiet exit from the venue much before the tie came to an end. So, will there be any disciplinary action against him? "It is not my job to discipline anyone. But as a captain, I will report the episode in my report to the AITA."
For the on-court action, Ramkumar Ramanathan beat Sanjar Fayziev 6-3, 6-2 before Temur Ismailov pulled one back for the visitors with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Prajnesh Gunnaeswaran.
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