For the first time in 55 years, the Indian tennis team will travel to Pakistan for their two-day Asia-Oceania Group 1 tie in September, and the squad for the same is likely to be named on August 5, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) said on Sunday.
“We have got the invitation and now we are in theprocess of getting the visas done. We will be going to Pakistan for the DavisCup tie. The squad is likely to be announced on the 5th of August,” AITASecretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee confirmed to IANS.
“I have said previously as well, that this is somethingwe cannot avoid as this is the World Cup of tennis. We will be penalised if wedon’t turn up,” he said.
India will be slapped with a fine like Hong Kong were afterthey refused to play an away tie in Pakistan. They were not only fined but alsorelegated to a lower division.
An Indian tennis team last went to Pakistan in 1964, withthe visitors securing a 4-0 victory.
Since the draw was out in February, there was a lot of talkaround India going to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack and thestrained political ties between the countries.
But after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) gavePakistan the green signal to host the Davis Cup tie at the grass courts of thePakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad, AITA started the process of checkingplayer availability and sorting visa applications.
The sports ministry also cleared the Indian team’sparticipation in the tie. This will be the first time since 2006 that the twocountries will meet in the Davis Cup.
Pakistan did not host a Davis Cup tie for 12 years due tosecurity reasons. The ban was lifted by the ITF in 2017.
Regarding the five players for the team travelling toPakistan, going by rankings, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan andSumit Nagal should be picked for singles with Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharanforming the doubles team.
India and Pakistan last met in 2006 with the former winningby a 3-2 margin after a marathon five-set, fifth rubber at the BrabourneStadium in Mumbai.
Former India No. 1 tennis player Somdev Devvarman told IANSa few days ago that it’s a great opportunity for the Davis Cup team to”build relationships” with their Pakistan counterparts.
“It’s great. Honestly, I wish I was part of theteam,” Somdev had said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our players to go and experience Pakistan. Amazing opportunity for young athletes to go and build relationships with countries that we have problems with historically,” said Somdev, who is now the national observer for tennis. “It’s a message of peace and play tennis in a competitive environment with mutual respect. I hope they make the most of it.” IANS