Leander Paes watch: He came, he saw, he trained

In the three-hour session in the morning, Paes trained only with junior players accompanying the team. In the evening, he trained with the entire squad for the first time, but seemed like he was keeping to himself. Even during the players’ party on Wednesday evening, Paes sat with the junior players instead of his peers in the original five-man squad.

Having made the long trip from Mexico to Bangalore, instead of looking fatigued, the 43-year-old seemed to have a spring in his stride – owing to his first title of the year. But it is likely that he will miss out on the tie to Bopanna.

As Paes warmed up, Bhupathi walked up to him. It was the first meeting between the former partners, former friends and former foes, and held the attention of the crowd gathered at the KSLTA Stadium in Bangalore. Even Ramkumar Ramanathan fancied a glance. The interaction was short and cordial. And all business.

Last week, Bhupathi announced his squad for the Davis Cup tie, leaving both doubles specialists as reserve players. At the time, it may have been a mere ruse to avoid controversy. Especially since he’s been adamant on employing a three-singles-one-doubles strategy. On Thursday, he will name his team officially during the draw ceremony.

Bopanna, meanwhile, has been practising with the team since they assembled on Sunday. The 37-year-old is India’s highest-ranked doubles player, at 24th in the world. His strokes were strong, as is common with Bopanna’s skill set. His booming serves, too, were raining down with ease from the six-foot-three hometown boy’s racquet, but he looked sluggish on his volleys.

Given that only three singles players are available to Bhupathi after Yuki Bhambri pulled out due to injury, it’s assumed that the versatile N Sriram Balaji – who has been playing both singles and doubles on tour – will be tasked with being one half of the doubles pair. He had been pairing up with Bopanna over the past few days for practice sets. It provided Bhupathi with his ideal choice, given the conditions. The high altitude in Bangalore, placed 920 metres above sea level, provides higher bounce and faster speed. Conditions like this can work in favour of the big-serving Balaji and Bopanna.

On the day, Paes was made to partner Balaji in a practice match that had Bopanna teaming up with Ramkumar at the other end. The world number 53 seemed to have hit a positive note with the prospective debutant, as Balaji directed his serves well for Paes, at the net, to kill off the returns.

Bhupathi watched, as the ‘trials’ unfolded. But he seemed to have already made his decision. Bopanna will be eager to get back into the Indian team, as he was overlooked for the first-round tie against New Zealand in February, in place of Paes.

Meanwhile, Paes was gunning for a Davis Cup record. He currently stands at 42 wins in doubles – the same as legendary Italian Nicola Pietrangeli. In all likeliness, he will have to wait a little longer for a shot at that record. In Denis Istomin’s absence, the two squads even out – though should it get tight in a situation where the doubles rubber weighs in as crucial, Bhupathi might wonder if a straightforward pairing of Paes-Bopanna could’ve got the job done.