India's top singles player Sumit Nagal on Friday returned to the Davis Cup team for the World Group I tie against Sweden but Yuki Bhambri has opted out of the September 14-15 contest, where former national champion Ashutosh Singh will serve as the new coach of the national team. (More Tennis News)
Nagal 🦂had missed the historic tie against Pakistan in Islamabad on grass court but the in-form player is back to lead the national team for the indoor hard-court contest in Stockholm.
Sasikumar 🍸Mukund, who is the third-highest ranked player at number 476, was not considered for selecti🐓on as he is serving a two-tie suspension for his refusal to play the Pakistan tie early this year.
Apart from Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, N Sriram Balaji, Niki Poonacha, who made his debut against Pakistan, and former national champion Siddharth Vishwa🍨karma are part of the squad.
Aryan Shah has been named as the reserve player.
Yuki is the number one doubles player for India in Davis Cup now that Roh🅺an Bopanna has retired. Since Yuki is not available, Ramkumar may be asked to play both singles and doubles.
"Yuki was not available for selection and he has not given any reason for his non-availability," selec꧙tion committee chairman Nandan B♏al told PTI.
"We were given a list of available players and his name 𒅌did not figure there, so we picked players who were available," added Bal.
An AITA source said Yuki was not happy that he was not picked for the Paris Olympics.
"It wa⭕s Rohan's decision to play with Balaji. AITA just endors💦ed that decision. He was a top-10 player and has the privilege to pick his partner, AITA can't be blamed for that," said the source.
൲When contacted, Yuki confirmed that he had opted out of t𓂃he tie but did not give the reason for his decision.
Rohit⭕ Rajpal will also come back to captain the side, having skipped the Pakistan tie due to personal reasons.
"We will try🍬 all combinations. It could be Niki and Balaji, or Balaji and Ramkumar. We have already started working on this. Let's see where we settle."
An AITA source said, "Mukund was handed a two-tie suspension by the Executive Committee for his consistent refusal to play for the national team. He did it three times in a row, so he was not to be considered f♈or two ties. This is the first tie and he will not be considered in the next one too."
After Zeeshan Ali quit as Davis Cup coach, the ▨AITA had two options: Delhi player Ashutosh Singh, who was known for his serve-and-volley style of play during his ൩playing days, and M Balachandran, who had recently travelled with the men's doubles team to the Paris Olympics.
"The choice for the coach was discussed with the players and most of them wanted Ashutosh to be the coach," said the AITA source adding that the names of Somdev Devvarman and Aditya Sachdeva also came up for dis♎cussion.
AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar sa𝐆id the Executive Committee appoints only the captain and the appo🎃intment of the coach was done by the office bearers of the federation.
"Captain Rohit Rajpal had discussed it with the players and we approved it. EC meeting was♔ not required for the appointment of coach," Dhupar said.
Ashutosh Singh's sister Shalini has served as the Fed Cup captain in the past and his father, Balram Singh, is a respected figure in Delhi tennis circle.
Balram is also part oဣf the AITA selec🌱tion committee.
