The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Bhupathi for captain

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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008
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Bhupathi for captain

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has decided to back Leander Paes, considering his stature and contribution to Indian tennis, and not crucify him on the basis of a protest letter from the members of the Indian Davis Cup team.

The grievances of Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj may be genuine, for Paes definitely has his failings as a leader.

“Definitely, it cannot be judgement day for Leander. At the same time, we want to have the best team for the tie against Japan in April,” said Anil Khanna, the secretary-general of the AITA.

It must be quite tempting to drop the revolting players and choose a second string team to fight the formidable Japanese. The authorities know pretty well that it would hardly be a solution and may only project Indian tennis in poor light.

If the AITA wants to protect Paes’s image, a tactful decision has to be taken and the mere drafting of a code of conduct for the team — as has been planned — to avoid the recurrence of such public spats may not suffice. Besides, the AITA wants Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to play a few tournaments as partners before the Olympics, so as to ensure that they have the best shot at a medal in Beijing in August.

Ideal solution

In such a scenario, the AITA may not be averse to the idea of strengthening the bond in the team and winning the confidence of everyone by passing on the captaincy to Bhupathi, with the consent of the incumbent.

It is appropriate to recall here that Paes himself had said at one of the press conferences during the last tie that he would have no qualms about having Bhupathi as captain, if required.

The fact is that it is in the interests of the Indian Davis Cup team that Paes and Bhupathi play together to win the pivotal doubles rubber to allow adequate recovery time for the singles players so that they can be at their physical and competitive best on the final day.

To be fair to the rest of the players in the team — who have, at times, felt that Paes has been stealing their thunder — it will be important to leave the responsibility of singles to the specialists.

The best way to salvage the current situation would be to appoint Mahesh Bhupathi as captain.

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