Zeenews Sports Bureau
New Delhi: Veteran Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi along with Rohan Bopanna have been left out from India’s Davis Cup team as a result of their poor show at the London Olympics.
The decision was taken by the team of selectors from the All India Tennis Association (AITA), who met on Saturday to pick the Davis Cup team for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie against New Zealand.
While Leander Paes rested himself for the tournament, Bhupathi-Bopanna had to bear the wrath for of the selectors who were unhappy at the way in which these players behaved ahead of the prestigious games.
The All India Tennis Association had initially paired Paes-Bhupathi in the mixed doubles category. After this news, Bhupathi refused to pair Leander citing personal reasons and later on Bopanna also refused pairing his senior saying that he had a better understanding with Bhupathi as they had been playing together for quite some time.
After a lot of discussions, AITA paired Bhupathi-Bopanna and Paes agreed to pair with Vishnu Vardhan on the condition that Sania Mirza would pair him in mixed doubles.
Notably, none of these players could win a medal at the London Olympics. Bhupathi-Bopanna lost to Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet in the second round.
India play New Zealand in a Davis Cup tie on September 14. Somdev Devvarman will also not be a part of the team due to an injury.
First Published: Saturday, August 18, 2012, 15:50