I for India

33 years old, 16 years in Davis Cup, 78 wins, why Leander Paes is still India8217;s magic man

Two years ago, when playing against Simon Rea in distant Invercargill in New Zealand, Leander Paes was miffed when Kiwi non-playing captain Bruce Derlin remarked aloud: 8216;8216;You must be feeling the pressure.8217;8217;

Ten years and a pair of nimble feet separated the two opponents in the Asia-Oceania Group I tie and Paes, then 31, was only just returning to tennis after the traumatic detection of a brain lesion. Besides, Paes hadn8217;t played singles for close to a year.

Playing a rare Davis Cup tie on carpet, India8217;s battle-hardened Cupper made Rea pay dearly for his chair-skipper8217;s indiscretion. He responded to the needling with narrowed eyes as he stepped up the tempo to clinch the crucial fifth rubber after dropping the first set against the fleet-footed 21-year-old.

Cut to April 2006 and an equally unfamiliar setting: a tennis corner carved out of a cricket field at CCI, and Paes was at it again, proving those pundits from Pakistan wrong. 8216;8216;I don8217;t think at this age, Paes would risk a five-setter,8217;8217; ventured the visitor8217;s coach Rashid Mallik during a routine briefing a day prior to the decider.

Not that his patriotism needed such stoking but Paes pulled off a dramatic win after suffering from cramps against Aqeel Khan8212;and forged it in five sets to be sure. Playing the fifth match on a Sunday for the 12th time in his career, Paes had emerged on the right side of the scoreline nine times, thrice in a live rubber.

At 33 and in his 16th year as India8217;s flag-bearer, Leander Paes won his 78th rubber to jump to the sixth spot in Davis Cup8217;s all-time list, behind Nicola Pietrangeli 120 of Italy, Ilie Nastase 109 of Romania, Manuel Santana 92 of Spain, Gotfried Von Cramm 82 of Germany and Alex Metreveli 80 of Russia.

His maiden win at Chandigarh in 1990, when he partnered Zeeshan Ali to win the doubles rubber 18-16 in the marathon fifth set against Japan was obviously a pointer to a career that looked destined for the long haul. Capping this phenomenal longevity and his inimitable innovation on the tennis courts where chips and lobs transformed into potent weapons against unsuspecting rivals, were Paes8217; inspired wins against marquee opponents like Jeremy Bates, Henri Leconte, Wayne Ferreira, Goran Ivanisevic and Jiri Novak in his early years.

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While the 19-match unconquered win-streak in doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi, on either side of their fateful split, has been a constant feature of the national campaign over the years. But the highlight of the 108-game Davis Cup synopsis is the 16 times when Paes has taken to the courts on all three match-days and won each one.