Mankad makes Davis Cup squad

Mahesh Bhupathi had said on Wednesday he would not risk his shoulder and play the Davis Cup unless Syed Fazaluddin was part of the team. “There are various opinions doing the rounds in India that Vishal Uppal and Sunil Kumar must be given a chance and be part of the team. I just had to put my foot down and say I would not play if I could not have Fazal in the team,” Bhupathi, who is playing the All-England Championships, told The Indian Express.

Bhupathi said he had called his father CGK Bhupathi and told him that he would not jeopardise his shoulder on a lark. “I know there is not much chance against Sweden, but I will go out and give my best. However, there is no way I am going to go out and risk my shoulder if they are going to send other players only to give them experience. Then I might as well take a week off and give my shoulder the rest it deserves.”

He said he had been in touch with Ramesh Krishnan, who he said had wanted him to play the doubles with Uppal, and had cited the latter’s performance with Paes against Korea in the last tie as a case in point. “I spoke to Ramesh a couple of days ago and he kept saying I should play with Vishal, that he could play backhand or forehand court and was good in doubles. But finally, I had to say what I thought. Perhaps I was a little rude, but things were getting out of hand. I need to play with someone I am comfortable with.”

“They have to realise that we are not playing Korea, we are playing Kulti and Tillstrom, who are ranked fifth in the world. And so I said I would not play with anyone but Fazal, otherwise, I will not play. I have made my stand clear,” Bhupathi said.

Bhupathi added: “Perhaps Harsh Mankad should get a chance. He has beaten lots of people in the Satellites in India, while Vishal could not get past Rishi Sridhar. But maybe, they should actually send Sunil for the experience. He is a left-hander, we would be playing a left-hander.”

Reacting to Bhupathi’s statements, Minotra said, “Mahesh’s statements are surprising, out of any context and smack of imamaturity. Bhupathi is our main singles player now and his statements cannot be taken lightly,” Minotra said. “Vishal will be the fifth member as we are not sure about Bhupathi’s shoulder. If it gives way at the crunch, we would suffer. Anyway, it is the decision of the captain (Ramesh) to select his singles and doubles players.”

Ramesh Krishnan is now in London and expected to meet Bhupathi. Incidently, Bhupathi comes into Davis Cup squad after a year’s gap. He last played in April last against China in Calcutta.

Minotra said the three-member committee including SP Mishra and Nandan Bal also deliberated upon names of Sunil Kumar, Sandeep Kirtane and Ajay Ramaswamy. “Sunil is still coming up. He will get his chance. Sandeep is not getting any younger at 27 and is also injury prone while Ramaswamy has yet to prove his mettle,” he said.

On Mankad’s selection, Minotra said: “Harsh has been consistent and this will be the right platform for him to gain experience.”

Meanwhile, the selectors also announced the under-18 teams for Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Edinburgh from August 10-14. The boys’ team includes Sunil Kumar, Parantap Chaturvedi, Shivang Mishra and Vinod Seva. The girls’ team comprises the Maharashtra brigade: Radhika Tulpule, Sonal Phadke, Megha Vakaria and Isha Lakhani (reserve).