Injury rules Paes out of Wimbledon, Davis Cup

Asked whether there was any chance of Mahesh Bhupathi playing the singles — Bhupathi had also taken a decision not to play the mixed doubles in the ongoing French Open so as to save his playing shoulder from too much stress — Ramesh said: "I had spoken to Mahesh much before all this (Leander’s injury) happened and we had decided that he would stick only to doubles. So Mahesh will not be playing the singles in Sweden."

Sounding agitated, Ramesh continued: "First Mahesh’s injury and now Leander’s, it just shows how sportsmen are hanging by a thread."

He also said that the decision on who will fill in for Paes (and Bhupathi) would be up to the AITA selection committee. "I have made my recommendations, though they were with Leander in mind. Now we will have to see where it goes from here."

Asked whether Paes would be with the team in Sweden, Ramesh said it was doubtful. "It is more important that he recovers soon. He told me he would return to Orlando to recuperate and for rehabilitation. We know his best wishes are with the team."

Meanwhile, selection committee member Shyam Minotra, said today that the selectors (including Nandan Bal and SP Mishra) would "wait and watch developments over the next few days".

"Mahesh has already said he had a sore shoulder during the French Open. You never know how that will go. There is also obviously a big question mark over whether Mahesh will finally play too. Things don’t look that good," Minotra said.

While stressing that it was too easy to make a decision on the composition of the team, Minotra said that Prahlad Srinath was definitely a frontrunner for a singles spot, keeping his ability on clay in mind. Adding that Delhi’s Vishal Uppal would probably play the doubles (with Bhupathi, if the latter plays), he said the ongoing Satellite circuit would make things clearer over the next few days. "We can announce the team upto 10 days before the event," he said.

Minotra also pointed out Vinod Sridhar, who has reached the last eight in Mumbai, as a good clay court player, but said that it was too early to say whether youngster Harsh Mankad would make the team. "He has just gotten back, so we will wait and see. After the MSLTA, the next leg is in Bangalore on clay. We will know more after that."

Veteran Sandeep Kirtane’s chances didn’t look that good, despite his good performance in Mumbai. "Sandeep’s problem is that he is injury prone," Minotra said. "We will have to take the fittest players."