The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has kept both Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes in the reserves for the Asia Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan to be played in Bengaluru from April 7 to 9.
The team comprises of Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sriram Balaji.
Both Prajnesh and Balaji have had a good run in a series of ITF Futures events across the country, with both winning two singles titles each, and Balaji winning four doubles titles with Vishnu Vardhan.
In the process, Vishnu who had flown into Pune on the day of the draw, after Saiketh Myneni had injured his foot, and played doubles with Paes against New Zealand, has also been called for the training stint in preparation for the tie.
Both Bopanna and Paes have not had good results in recent weeks in the US, after the Dubai ATP event.
The chairman of the selection committee chose the team in consultation with the newly appointed captain, multiple Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi.
Even though the selection may be logical, it should not be a surprise if the four announced prior to the draw is different.
It has been stressed that all the six players need to be present in Bengaluru for selection and must have done their fitness tests as prescribed.
In fact, a special exemption has been given to Paes to have his tests done in the US, while the rest are scheduled to have it done in Mumbai.
Yuki Bhambri has been in fine form in the Challenger circuit in China, after having won the first of the six Futures events in Chandigarh.
Bopanna has already done the fitness test, while the other players are scheduled to have it done soon, before they catch the flight to Benglauru.
The No.1 singles player Ramkumar has lost the final qualifying round in a Challenger in Mexico, while Paes is scheduled to compete in doubles in the same tournament.
The team:Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sriram Balaji. Reserves:Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes .
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