The All-India Tennis Association has taken a bold step in deciding to field a young team in the next Davis Cup tie. Left out of the national squad for next month’s New Zealand match are the troublesome duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, while Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman were not considered due to non-availability and injury respectively.
Bhupathi and Bopanna made such a song and dance about not being paired together at the Olympics: so much bad blood was spilled that even if they won a gold medal it wouldn’t have assuaged the hurt feelings caused by all their silly politics in sport.
To begin with, a young team may not fare well, so there might be pressure on AITA to recall the oldies on sentimental grounds. That should be resisted. National honour was sullied in the shindig over the Olympics selection, when the federation was held to ransom so long that it caved in, changing the original pairing while insisting on Paes partnering Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles.
The London washout may have emboldened the AITA to move on. Besides failure clearing its vision, leading to the realisation that no sport should encourage prima donnas, there is also a pressing need to blood younger and more committed players to take up the national cause in one of the few remaining international team events in a sport dominated by individuals and a star system. The future should be brighter for India, which has never won the Davis Cup.