CHENNAI: The AccuWeather website has an interesting post script while listing the weather for Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, over the next six-seven days. “Hypothermia likely without protective clothing Tuesday evening through late Saturday night.”
Considering that the Indian contingent for the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan land in the Kazakh capital on Sunday, some of them are already looking ahead to see what the temperature is going to be on November 29 and 30. The forecast is -90C and -170C and -90C and -160C for the two days of the tie.
While it’s not as severe as the next few days (-230C and -280C on Wednesday), Zeeshan Ali maintained that the body will take time to get used to that cold. “It will take a few days to get used to those conditions, a lot of the Indians don’t generally get to experience these conditions,” he told this daily. But India’s coach says it won’t affect performance. “We will play in an indoor stadium that has heating facilities. I don’t think the matches will be a cause for concern.”
His main worry is the health of the squad. Given they lost Rohan Bopanna on Monday night, the former
Davis Cupper has got a point. “We need to safeguard against further injuries.” That’s one reason why the team will not train at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association on Wednesday. “They all land there at different times and have played different tournaments till last week. They are anyway match sharp, so I am mindful of pushing them too hard now. We will begin our practice from November 21.”
On paper, India are favourites but there is always a danger of Pakistan catching them cold. Especially when knowledge of their players is next to minimal. While the risk exists — Pakistan are yet to announce their team — Ali has been on a fact-finding mission. “Yes, there is an unavailability of videos of their players,” he said. “I have been doing my research but we will form our ideas only after seeing them train and play.” For the time being, they have found out that Muzammil Murtaza, one of their players, plays with an Indian partner (Dhruv Sunish) in the sport’s lowest tier.
Ali also refused to believe that Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi will skip the tie. “I have read that but I have told the players never believe anything that’s been said. We will go there and see if he is not there. I am not overly concerned with what they do. The only thing I want now is for the boys to go there and win
the tie.” Win the tie and a passage to next year’s World Group playoffs await.