CHENNAI: India begin as favourites in their much-delayed, two-day Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against Pakistan. Originally slated to be held in Islamabad on September 14 and 15, it was shifted to Nur Sultan by International Tennis Federation (ITF) because of security concerns in Pakistan. Pakistan Tennis Federation appealed ITF’s decision, but the latter refused to budge from its stance.Compared to the drama-filled build-up, the actual tie could be over in a flash. The two teams are heavily mismatched, at least on paper.
Apart from experience, the Indian contingent has the likes of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal — two Grand Slam qualifiers regulars — in singles. Pakistan don’t. Muhammad Shoaib, who will play the opening rubber against Ramanathan at National Tennis Center, does not even have an ATP ranking (the 17-year-old is 1,857th on ITF’s world-ranking list). Huzaifa Abdul Rehman, their other singles player, also doesn’t have an ATP ranking.
All this is because of Pakistan sending its junior team to Kazakhstan, as a protest against ITF’s decision to shift the tie. “Our senior team is not coming. We are sending our junior team. They are all 16, 17 years old, and will gain experience,” PTF president Salim Saifullah Khan said. “India wanted to win this tie. Now they can, easily. Every day, hundreds of Indians come to Pakistan. Our hotels in Islamabad are full of them, but six Indian players can’t come.”
To be honest, India would have started favourites any way because of the dearth of quality in the opposition ranks. Their main players — doubles specialist Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and”, if India captain Rohit Rajpal is to be believed. “This is the Davis Cup. There is absolutely no question of underestimating them,” he told this daily.
“They have some young players. So they will obviously go out on court with a nothing-to-lose attitude. Our job tomorrow and day after (Friday and Saturday) is to go out there and beat the enemy without conceding a single rubber.”
One disadvantage for India while going up against a new team is lack of information. The Indian contingent has resorted to watching the opposition whenever they’ve had a hit during the last few days. “We have seen them here. They seem to be striking the ball decently,” Rajpal said. Win the tie and India will travel to Croatia next March for a spot in next year’s World Group Finals.
Tie itinerary
1st match: Muhammad Shoaib vs Ramkumar Ramanathan.
2nd match: Huzaifa Abdul Rehman vs Sumit Nagal.
3rd match: Rehman/Shoaib vs Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/Leander Paes.
4th match: Shoaib vs Nagal.
5th match: Rehman vs Ramanathan.