New Delhi: Legendary Leander Paes returned to the Indian Davis Cup team after more than a year as an eight-member squad was picked here on Thursday for the tie against Pakistan. Besides Paes, who had made himself available for the tie when the venue was still to be decided, top players Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi Kumar Mukund, and Rohan Bopanna, who had reservations on travelling to Pakistan due to security concerns, were also picked.
The squad was picked by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) selection committee and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Saketh Myneni, and Siddharth Rawat also found places in the team.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) shifted the venue from Islamabad after AITA's request but since Pakistan Tennis Federation challenged the decision, it said it will review their appeal.
India will miss top player Prajnesh Gunneswaran who is getting married. In his absence, Nagal (ranked 127) and Ramkumar (190) will lead the singles challenge.
Mukund (250) and Myneni (267) will be back up singles players. The Indian team has three doubles specialists in Bopanna, Paes, and Nedunchezhiyan.
Squad: Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi Kumar Mukund, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Siddharth Rawat. Captain: Rohit Rajpal, Coach: Zeeshan Ali, Physio: Anand Kumar, Team Manager: Sunder Iyer. IANS