Six players for Norway tie good enough, says India’s Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal

The opening day of the tie will have two singles, and on the second day, doubles followed by two singles matches will be the best of three sets.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, captain Rohit Rajpal and Saketh Myneni address the pre-draw press conference in Lillehammer, Norway, on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Captain Rohit Rajpal admired the indoor arena and scenic beauty, even as he hoped that it would all inspire the Indian team to play its best against Norway in the Davis Cup World Group tie in Lillehammer on September 16 and 17.

In the pre-draw press conference, the US Open finalist and world No.2 Casper Ruud was present on Wednesday, with the captain Anders Haseth assuring that Ruud would play two singles and the doubles to sustain the home team’s chances.

"Ruud is young, fresh and strong. He will play all three matches," said captain Haseth.

The Norwegian captain had a lot of respect for the Indian team, the rich experience of the players and their ability to come to the net and play good serve and volley games.

The Indian captain Rohit Rajpal said that having six players was good enough for the away tie and that the team would plan its strategy while finalising the team before the draw ceremony on Thursday.

"It is a pretty even match," said Rajpal, as he took into account that Norway was virtually a one-man army.

"We all believe in our chances. We hope the tie goes our way," said Prajnesh Gunneswaran.

Saketh Myneni said that the focus of the team was to work hard and prepare well.

"We are confident of playing our best in every match," said Saketh.

The opening day will have two singles, and on the second day, doubles followed by two singles. Matches will be best of three sets.

Prajnesh felt that the court was not very fast, but said that all the players were quite used to the pace of the surface and the Indian team did not require very fast courts these days to compete hard.

Rajpal said that it was disappointing to miss the services of Rohan Bopanna, not only as a strong doubles player but also because of the tremendous value that he brought with his presence and advice.

‘’Am grateful to Saketh for making himself available as soon as we called, and he is practising hard. Yuki Bhambri and Saketh have won a series of Challengers in recent weeks and am confident that they would do the job for us’’, said Rajpal.

It will be interesting to see the five-member nomination of the Indian team and also who plays on the first day for India, from among Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh, Sumit Nagal and Sasikumar Mukund.