Braving cold conditions, the Indian Davis Cup team began its preparatory camp for the upcoming grass court tie against Pakistan, keen to find a second singles player in the absence of top-ranked Indian Sumit Nagal. (More Tennis News)
The country's top singles players -- Nagal (ranked 137) and Sasikumar Mukund (ranked 463) -- have pulled out of the tie February 3-4 t🌱ie in Islamabad.
Their absence means that Ramkumar Ramanathan is the 🍌only singles spe𝔉cialist player in the team.
Captain Rohit Rajpal has to choose between Yuki Bhambri ;and N Sriram Baꦗlaji to play the second singles. 💜;
Bhambri, at 61 on the ATP doubles list, is the team's highest-ranked player and will certainly play the doubles ru🐬bber as well. Veteran Rohan Bopanna, who is India's best doubles player, has retired from the Davis Cup.
Niki Poonac🐽ha is also an option but he is ranked as low as 783 and the team may not field him in singles.
Both Bhambri and Balaji took a day off since they travelled straight from Melbourꦉne after competing in the Australian Open.
Ramkumar, Poonacha and Saketh Myneni had a light s꧃ession that ꦬlasted two and a half hours.
They had two hitting partners -- Udit Kamboj and Maan Kesarwani -- from the National Tennis Centre (NTC) to help them warm up.
"They are all ꦓcoming from tournaments. The idea is to get w♚armed up nicely. Grass courts require a different type of momentum. Lot of running, short sprints to the net, serve and volley. The tempo will build up as we go along," Rajpal told PTI.
"We will decide on our second singles pla꧅yers in a couple of days. I have to see the players, how they play on grass," he said when asked about possible combinations.
"Pakistan have beaten good teams on grass so we have to prepare well and not take anything for granted. They know how to put pressure on grass, how to come in (charge net),🦩 we need to try to and get used to that. ওWe are planning our preparations accordingly, a lot of drills are based on that," he added.
Coach Zeeshan Ali said getting🍸 used to the surface is a challenge. 🍒;
The balls stay low on grass and courts are quicker and unpredictable. Where the ball will and how much the ball bounces, is difficul🍸t to predict.
"These guys do not get to play on grass. Acclimatising to the surface is key and that's why this camp has been organised. The strokes remain the sa♏me but it is movement which is crucial on grass," said Zeeshan.
