The All India Tennis Association (AITA) continued negotiations with the players till late Thursday night and accommodated more demands but none of the players made himself available for the upcoming tie against South Korea, beginning February 1 here.
Veteran Leander Paes will now lead the side which will have V M Ranjeet and Vijayant Malik as singles player, both of whom do not feature even in top-500.
Ranjeet is ranked 517 and Malik stands at 542. Purav Raja, who is ranked 155 in doubles, is the fourth player of the side and will team up with Paes for the doubles rubber.
Surprisingly the better-ranked players N Sriram Balaji (324) and national hard court champion Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (423) also made themselves unavailable, raising speculation that they have also joined the rebel group.
AITA made efforts to appease the disgruntled group by agreeing to consult the players in selecting physiotherapist instead of approaching SAI.
It also agreed to give business class ticket to all four players even for the Asia/Oceania ties but nothing worked.
AITA still have 10 more days to give a final squad to the ITF but said no change will be made now, reflecting a hardening of stand on their part too.
"There is no more room for the selection at least for this tie. The players have crossed the line," AITA CEO Hirnomoy Chatterjee said at a press conference.
Asked if Jeeevan and Balaji had also joined the rebellious group, Chatterjee said, "That we do not know, but they did not give us their availability."
"I am sure this team will bring laurels for the country. We will be able to give a good run (to the rivals)," said Anil Dhupar, Chairman of the six-member selection committee. More
