NEW DELHI: The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Monday announced the six-member Indian team for the Davis Cup 2023 World Group II tie against Morocco scheduled from September 16 to 17 in Lucknow.
As per Olympics.com, veteran player Rohan Bopanna, and Sumit Nagal, India’s top men’s singles player at world number 179 in ATP Rankings will be headlining the team.
Rohan, the world number nine player in doubles has been in great form this year, having clinched the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Masters with his doubles partner Matthew Ebden. This will be his final appearance at the Davis Cup, Rohan Bopanna had announced last month.
Nagal, who has had a difficult time due to injuries in the last couple of years, has got an uptick in his ranking after clinching ATP Challenger titles in Rome and Tampere in the ongoing season.
Sasikumar Mukund (world No. 345), Digvijay Pratap Singh (world No. 535), Yuki Bhambri (world No. 944) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (world No. 573) are the other players included in the squad against Morocco.
Former player Rohit Rajpal will continue as the non-playing skipper for the team and Zeeshan Ali will be the coach.
India had earlier lost to Denmark by 3-2 in their World Group 1 Playoffs back in February this year and dropped to the Group II stage for the first time since the new format was implemented in 2019.
There is only one change in the team from the squad which played against Denmark. Digvijay Pratap Singh has replaced Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
Additionally, AITA has also named five more players, Saketh Myneni, Manas Dhamne, Manish Sureshkumar, Karan Singh and Yuvan Nandal, who will accompany the squad and provide them with some practice matches for preparation.
A total of 24 teams play in World Group II ties. The 12 winners will progress to World Group I playoffs while losing teams will drop to World Group II playoffs.
A Davis Cup tie has five matches, out of which four are singles and one is doubles. The team which manages to win at least three wins the tie.
The Indian tennis team’s best performances at the tournament came in 1966, 1974 and 1987, finishing runners-up.
Davis Cup 2023 World Group II tie: India tennis squad vs Morocco
Team India: Sumit Nagal, Sasikumar Mukund, Digvijay Pratap Singh, Rohan Bopanna, Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan
Captain: Rohit Rajpal
Coach: Zeeshan Ali. (ANI)