Paes not to push himself

Whatever the stage, Leander Paes is used to grabbing more than his share of the limelight.

Whatever the stage, Leander Paes is used to grabbing more than his share of the limelight. At today’s training session, though, he consigned himself to the background as his teammates practised on. He may have been restricted by the injury to his right ankle, but he was never far away from the action, instructing Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna as they attempted to perfect their serves and volleys. Even standby players Ashutosh Singh and Vishnu Vardhan were dispensed the advice at the National Sports Club of India, as the Indian team prepared for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan.

The chances of Paes playing more than a supporting role in this tie are remote, and he himself admitted to it. “My ankle is strapped up, it’s still a bit tender. It’s on the mend, though. I can take the court if I push myself, but I am definitely not a 100 per cent ready. I may do my ankle some permanent damage if I play verdict on his injury.

“We have many options in the doubles, and if I am not ready, I will not hesitate to pull myself out of it. This tie against Uzbekistan is an interesting one. I watched Istomin at the Australian Open with my mind on the Davis Cup, and I saw that he has definitely made a lot of improvements in his game. He’s playing solid tennis and I want to see how he handles the grass. I haven’t seen Dustov play, but both of Uzbekistan’s singles players are very good. Grass, though, is a huge advantage for us,” he added.

And for all the Uzbek talk proclaiming the ‘readiness’ of their grasscourt shoes, the Indian captain is quick to counter the assertion. “I saw their shoes today. They claimed they were for the grasscourts, but they were claycourt shoes. They weren’t sure what grasscourt shoes were,” laughed the 34-year-old.

Mahesh Bhupathi is yet to join the team, but Paes maintained he is pleased with his participation. “It’s great to have Mahesh back, especially after 2007, when he said he will not play Davis Cup again. He is certainly an asset to the team. It’ll actually be good not to have two doubles specialists on the team — what if one of the boys gets injured? This is an opportunity for guys like Rohan, Prakash, to take the responsibility and carry the flag. They should grab the chance with open arms. Rohan is ready to play on all three days, but it could change if he plays a long match on day one,” he said.

Paes admitted he would’ve liked Somdev to join the squad sooner than Tuesday, which is when the 22-year-old will be arriving.

“We have to make allowances for the fact that he is playing college matches and coming from America, but it would’ve been good for him to come on Thursday or Friday. He is capable of playing the singles too, and is an obvious choice if one of our spearheads gets injured.”

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The veteran ruled out the option of playing a few tournaments with Mahesh ahead of the Beijing Olympics.