 "After 27 years, Leander Paes dropped from Davis Cup squad")
Ace tennis player Leander Paes was on Thursday dropped for the first time in 27 years from India’s Davis Cup squad, as non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi picked Rohan Bopanna instead for the tie against Uzbekistan.
The Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie begins here on Friday. Bopanna will pair up with Sriram Balaji in the second round doubles tie. Bopanna is ranked 24th in the world, 29 spots above Olympic medallist and multiple Grand Slam winner Paes (53rd). Ramkumar Ramanathan will spearhead India's singles challenge in place of injured Yuki Bhambri.
Justifying his decision to pick Bopanna over Paes, Bhupathi said the Bengaluru lad is serving and seeing the ball well and also had a good start to the year. "Yeah, like I said the conditions obviously are very quick here. Rohan is serving well... That was the basis of the decision," Bhupathi said.
Paes, who made his Davis Cup debut against Japan in 1990 at Jaipur, has been dropped from the Davis Cup team on form — or the lack of it — for the first time in nearly three decades.
Bhupathi said it was a tough decision to drop his one-time doubles partner. When asked if it was end of the road for Paes, Bhupathi responded in the negative. “Not at all, I made it clear to everyone involved, including Leander, that this is by no means the end of the road. His being in the team is invaluable, the experience, the energy he brings to Davis Cup ...,” he said.