Double trouble

Despite eventually putting up two teams,Indias challenge in the tennis mens doubles at the London Olympics did not survive their first set of matches. Among the four athletes were two multiple Grand Slam winners Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes and a top-15 player in Rohan Bopanna,Indias strongest pool of talent in years. Yet it cannot be said that the dispiriting show was wholly unexpected.

When it looked like the All India Tennis Federation might send a lone pair to the Olympics,Bhupathi argued that it was illogical to send only one team to London when it had the option of two. Sports Minister Ajay Maken threw his weight behind the player and the federation gave in. True,the chances of a medal go up with better representation. But in going for two teams of variable skill instead of putting forth its best combination,the minister and the federation seem to have taken that literally. Unlike at the Grand Slams,the doubles event at the Olympics features a tricky mixture of format specialists and top-level singles players who team up just for the Games. That means competing against big names like Federer and Djokovic will require as much nerve as skill. It was imperative for India to nominate its best possible pairing in terms of experience and ability Paes and Bhupathi to stand any medal chance at all.

Considerations of ego ought not to matter to professionals,especially those engaged in a team pursuit,and given the magnitude of the Olympics challenge and what is at stake. After all,basketball and football stars,who command a greater following and have much bigger egos,routinely set differences aside for the common cause,a case in point being basketballs Dream Team US and footballs Team Great Britain. It is not unimaginable that the success these sides enjoy owes something to this temporary suspension of self-importance.