Davis Cup fixture in India will help groom next generation of players: Captain Rohit Rajpal

Davis Cup fixture in India will help groom next generation of players: Captain Rohit Rajpal

India Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal said that there is nothing better than a home game to groom future Indian Davis Cup stars and that the upcoming tie against Togo will be a good opportunity.

The squad for the Davis Cup tie — which is set to be played from February 1-2 — will feature Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Karan Singh, N.Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli.

Mukund will be the highest-ranked player in the tie – 368, and returns to the squad after playing against Morocco in Lucknow.

Captain Rajpal shared that he was delighted that India will get to play at home after playing both fixtures this season away from home. India’s last four of the five ties have been away, including the historic match against Pakistan in Islamabad.

“Playing in home conditions is always beneficial. We have travelled a lot in the last two or three seasons. The slow, hard courts at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) were ideal if Sumit Nagal had played but still, the conditions will suit us.

‘Maybe the choice could have been grass courts if we knew Sumit would opt out from before,“ Rajpal said, who is also the DLTA President.

Thomas Steodji will be Togo’s key player in the contest, Togo comes in with three wins against Latvia, Indonesia and Benin.

“I will not say that it will be a cakewalk for us but the tie will give us the option to groom the next generation of players in the Davis Cup environment and playing at home, we can definitely utilise the home advantage and home support“, Rajpal added.

The Indian Davis Cup team will start its preparation for the upcoming World Group I play-off tie starting from January 23 at the DLTA Complex.

Aryah Shah, Chirag Duhan and Yuvaan Nadal, who have been added to the squad will be training along with the Indian team.