Not afraid of being sacked, says Amritraj

India’s Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj has made it clear that he would have few qualms if the All India Tennis Association chose to terminate his tenure on charges of indiscipline within the team.

Anand Amritraj has denied allegations of there being indiscipline in the team during his captaincy.

India’s Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj has made it clear that he would have few qualms if the All India Tennis Association chose to terminate his tenure on charges of indiscipline within the team.

In a written statement released to the media, Amritraj said, “If the AITA is not prepared to heed the wishes of the players and wants to use some pretext of indiscipline or some comment I originally made about match timings, to terminate me as Captain, then so be it.”

Amritraj had responded to the alleged “lack of discipline” through an interview with The Hindu from his home in Los Angeles last week. In addition to further elaboration on the points he had made then, he also sought to address a couple of other issues.

“It was brought up that one of the players had his girlfriend in the dressing room during the Serbia tie in Bangalore in 2014,” he said. “There is a huge difference between someone being in the dressing room or locker room and the players’ lounge, which is where she was. No one other than team members and the trainers and physios are allowed into the dressing room. The players’ lounge is where the families, wives and girlfriends are permitted to hang out.”

“I personally did not see this incident, because I was on court during Somdev’s singles match, as was the rest of the team. I'm not sure why this incident is being brought up more than two years later. If it was such a problem, it should have been brought to my notice soon after.”

The 63-year-old also rubbished allegations that during the Asia/Oceania tie against South Korea in Chandigarh in early 2016, the team had gone out drinking after sealing the tie, with reverse singles yet to be played.

“The team went out to a nice dinner to celebrate our win and none of the players had a drink, certainly not in front of me,” he said.

“I have always tried to make sure the boys are in a good frame of mind and ready to produce their best. Having played Davis Cup for India for 20 years and twice taken our country to the final, I know very well the importance of discipline on and off the court.”

Amritraj will be in Chennai for the Aircel Chennai Open and is expected to address the media upon arrival.