CHENNAI: One of the main issues ahead of the Davis Cup tie versus New Zealand in February was finding a suitable replacement for injured India No 1 Saketh Myneni at the 11th hour. Doubles expert Rohan Bopanna, however, could not be convinced and India had to call in Vishnu Vardhan instead.
Why the All India Tennis Association handled it so ineptly is anybody’s guess, but new skipper Mahesh Bhupathi has come up with a plan to bypass such crises in the future. The 42-year-old expects the team to undergo a thorough fitness test ahead of the cutoff date.
Now, it’s common for cricketers who’ve made themselves available to undergo fitness tests under the watchful eyes of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but no such practice has been in place when it comes to tennis. In the past, a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ has sufficed. Bhupathi is changing the status quo, even though he’s unaware if overseas counterparts make similar requests.
“Previously, players just responded to an email saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but I’ve asked them all to take a fitness test. Rohan took it last week, a few of them are taking it next week. It includes everything from regular fitness to cardio to muscle imbalance to innate intelligence.
It was my suggestion, but at the end of the day, I must thank the AITA for accepting and footing the bill,” the 12-time Grand Slam winner told Express.
According to AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee, the federation is happy that Bhupathi is taking a proactive step. As expected, the question as to why such a move was never taken earlier was sidestepped expertly.
“In the past, we never conducted a test, but asked players to declare their fitness. Still, Mahesh and AITA agreed immediately. We want to make sure players are unquestionably fit. Mahesh insisted that players get tested at HEAL Institute in Mumbai,” Chatterjee said.
On Monday, the AITA selection committee picked Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, N Sriram Balaji, Bopanna and Leander Paes for the Group I Asia/Oceania second-round clash against Uzbekistan.
The decision, based on current ATP rankings of the top four singles guys and top two doubles aces, is likely to please everyone.
Bhupathi added that with the tie still over a month away (April 7 to 9), he would take a call in a little over two weeks’ time. “I could either stick to a makeshift doubles team or a specialist one. The reason two doubles players have been picked is to give me that option. But, in theory, I could leave both doubles guys out... Since many teams are comprised of just singles exponents,” the captain signed off.
rohan@newindianexpress.com