In Paes's absence, seasoned Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni will do the doubles duty in the July 17-19 tie, to be held in Christchurch.
Rafael Nadal will play Sergiy Stakhovsky in Friday's second Davis Cup singles rubber after Spain announced their lineup for the World Group playoff at home to Ukraine on Thursday.
Rafa Nadal has returned to the Spain team as they seek to maintain their Davis Cup World Group status with a playoff tie against Ukraine in Madrid later this month, captain Alex Corretja said on Monday.
Instead he is fielding youngsters Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj in the Asia-Oceania group I Davis Cup tie against China.
Bora Gojo and Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 2-0 lead over India, winning the opening singles, in their Davis Cup qualifier in Zagreb on Friday. Gojo, ranked 277th, put the hosts ahead with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over world No. 132 Prajnesh Gunneswaran while world No. 37 Cilic was taken to two tie-breakers before prevailing over 182-ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(8), 7-6(8).
Mario Ancic beat Slovakia's Michal Mertinak to claim a 3-2 victory for Croatia in the Davis Cup final.
Slovakian number two Karol Beck was handed the daunting task of trying to stop Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic when the draw for the Davis Cup final was made on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Coric came from two sets to one down to defeat the 20-year-old debutant Tiafoe 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-7(11), 6-1, 6-3 and finally subdue a remarkable fightback from the Americans, who had earlier levelled the tie 2-2 from two down.
Sumit Nagal and Mukund Sasikumar secured victories, while Sidharth Rawat delivered a stunning upset at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger.
Leander Paes aspires to win not only a second Olympics medal but also obliterate the Ramanathan Krishnan's Davis Cup record of most singles win for India.
Leander Paes beat New Zealand's Mark Nielsen 6-1, 7-6, 6-2.\n\n
Harsh Mankad, included as a reserve player in the squad, had earlier demanded a guarantee of him playing in the tie.
Indian colts blanked top seeds Australia 2-0 in the final of the Junior Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone tennis championship.
Igor Andreev took Russia to their second successive Davis Cup final by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fifth and deciding rubber.
Hong Kong have withdrawn from their Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in Islamabad citing security concerns, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said.
Toni Nadal has given a lukewarm response to the decision by the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) to appoint former women's Tour player Gala Leon as Spain's new Davis Cup captain.
Five-times Davis Cup champions Spain will host Britain in the first round of the 2018 competition.
Holders Czech Republic showed how tenaciously they will fight to retain the Davis Cup on Saturday, while five-times champions Spain avoided being knocked out in the first round for the first time since 2006 by winning their doubles rubber against Canada.
Bopanna also in reserves while four single specialists named in squad
Brothers Andy and Jamie Murray carried Britain to the brink of a Davis Cup semi-final berth after they beat France in the doubles rubber to take a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
Substitute Dmitry Tursunov beat Andy Roddick in an epic five-set battle to seal a Russian victory over the United States.
They need to beat Thailand to advance to the World Group finals.
Lukas Rosol beat Evgeny Korolev 7-6, 67, 7-6, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic an unassailable 3-1 lead over Kazakhstan and propel the defending champions into the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
Vishnu Vardhan joined the Indian Davis Cup team in Chandigarh on Sunday and said the hosts are familiar with the playing style of the New Zealand squad that touched down for the Asia-Oceania tie starting September 14.
Davis Cup holders Britain edged into a 2-1 lead in Serbia after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot won Saturday's doubles.
Uzbekistan suffered a blow with their top player Denis Istomin ruled out of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 tie against India due to a foot injury, on Tuesday.
Ram Kumar Ramanathan will take on Seong-Chan Hong, ranked more than 200 places below him, in the first singles match of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group-I tie between India and South Korea starting in Chandigarh on Friday.
The team made the grade after finishing third in the Asia-Oceania zonal qualifiers in Jakarta last week.
The April 4-6 match will be held at the lush green grass courts of the Calcutta South Club.
Novak Djokovic spurred Serbia to a 3-0 win over neighbours Croatia in the first round of the Davis Cup on Saturday and they will be joined in the quarter-finals by an equally rampant France.
It will be the beginning of a new era in Indian tennis when a young Davis Cup team, sans all the proven stars, battles it out against New Zealand to stay in the Asia Oceania Group I.
Novak Djokovic began the fightback and Janko Tipsarevic completed the job as Serbia overturned a 2-1 deficit against Canada in the Davis Cup semi-final on Sunday.
The International Tennis Federation has rejected an appeal by Pakistan to host its Davis Cup tie against Lebanon next year, the Pakistan Tennis Federation has said.
'We are not interested in forfeiting the tie. We look forward to working with the ITF to find a solution that guarantees the safety of all the players'
Rafael Nadal's decision to opt out of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off opening tie remained shrouded in mystery with Spain captain Conchita Martinez and player Feliciano Lopez coming up with two different versions.
Sweden and Novak Djokovic's Serbia took the two best runners-up spots and a place in the last eight by virtue of their better match win-loss records among the second placed sides throughout the group stages.
