Instead he is fielding youngsters Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj in the Asia-Oceania group I Davis Cup tie against China.
Veteran tennis star Leander Paes was retained in the Indian Davis Cup team for next month's Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
On a largely disappointing day for Indian tennis players, Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza lost their respective doubles matches in the second round of the Australian Open, leaving the country's challenge restricted to the mixed doubles competition.
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
Miffed at not getting a 'specialist' men's doubles partner, veteran tennis star Leander Paes, on Thursday, pulled out of the 18th Asian Games starting on Saturday.
The Indian pair was drawn in a relatively easy bottom half in the men's doubles tennis at the Athens Games.
Thrust into action courtesy a controversy, it will be a test of nerves and skill for the Indian rookies when they take on South Korea in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie, beginning in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Leander Paes had a productive day at the Australian Open, entering the men's doubles semi-finals with Radek Stepanek, and the mixed doubles quarter-finals with Elena Vesnina, in Melbourne, on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old Leander Paes's dream of appearing in a record seventh Olympics may remain just that if Rohan Bopanna decides to play with a player ranked lower than the world No 46.
Ace Indian doubles duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their doubles rubber against Romania to close the gap to 1-2 in the Davis Cup World Group Play-off.
Ace Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are one step away from securing the lone trophy missing from their cabinets. The third seeds got the better of the second-seeded pair of Daniel Nestor of Cananda and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 to make it to the final of the Australian Open.
Moments after winning the US Open men's doubles trophy, his 10th Grand Slam title, Indian ace Leander Paes said he wasn't sure if he would be able to play the final as he was carrying a sore shoulder.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi capped a glorious reunion on Sunday by winning their fifth Chennai Open doubles title. Sunday's win also served their basic purpose, as a perfect preparation for the year's first major - the Australian Open. Neither Paes nor Bhupathi have won the men's doubles title at Melbourne thus far in their careers.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi went down in straight sets to the unseeded Croat-Austrian pair of Mario Ancic and Jurgen Melzer in the final of Ordina Open. The second seeded Indians, who were aiming for their first ATP title together in four years, went down 6-7 (5), 3-6.
Indian aces Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes breezed into the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event with their respective partners following straight set wins over their opponents at the US Open in New York, on Saturday. Top seeds Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber eased past Jill Craybas and Eric Butorac of the US 6-3, 6-3 in a 54-minute second round match.
Since Yuki Bhambri, ranked 94, is likely to make the cut for the US Open, the AITA selection committee exempted him.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis went through several anxious moments before getting past Russian girls Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova in their opening doubles match at the French Open on Wednesday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champions prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2.
Defending champions Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have been seeded third for the men's doubles at the French Open. They open their campaign against Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.
Sania Mirza was the only Indian left competing in the Western and Southern Open by reaching the semi-finals as Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna were ousted from the men's doubles with their respective partners in Cincinnati.
Bhupathi said on Wednesday the former world number one pair should play together to give India the best shot at a medal.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after losing to eighth-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski via the super tie-break in the semi-finals in London on Saturday. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski needed an hour and 39 minutes to prevail over the fourth seeds and three-time former finalists 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 and reach their 31st tour-level doubles final.
Leander Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, suffered a rare doubles defeat in the Davis Cup as Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek gave Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over India in the World Group play-off tie, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
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The 44-year-old veteran says he has not lost hope and by his own admission, he is still playing the game for the love of it.
India meet Japan in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I first round tie in Delhi, from February 7 to 9.
Myneni, who will lead India in the Davis Cup tie against Spain, on Friday, proposed to his girlfriend Sri Lakshmi Anumolu at the official Davis Cup dinner on Wednesday night.
The all-Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had to toil for victory, but Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed into the second round of the Australian Open men's doubles in Melbourne on Wednesday.
AITA brought back old warhorse Leander Paes in the Davis Cup team despite 'reservations' from seasoned campaigner Rohan Bopanna.
'I don't think you can fault us for not trying. We kept giving our best shot because we know how special a relationship it is for not just us but the country as well'
Senior pro Leander Paes's place in the Indian Davis Cup team will be up for discussion when the AITA Selection Committee meets on Monday to pick the squad for the upcoming Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
India's tennis great Mahesh Bhupathi on Saturday said his former Grand Slam winning partner Leander Paes is still playing well and can continue for another year. Terming it as 'The Last Roar', Olympics bronze-medallist Paes is in his last year of professional tennis career.
As the nation celebrates its 76th Republic Day, India's sports fraternity took to social media to share their patriotic sentiments and wishes with fans across the country on Sunday.
While every other team practises their hardest in the few hours left for the Rio Olympics 2016, the Indian contingent was left looking for rooms, extra pair of jerseys and assembling chairs.
Paes, having proved his mettle in tennis courts, now sought to champion the cause of common people as 'I have always wanted to serve the country in one way or the other'.
'The only thing I am feeling bad right now is, if he had decided earlier to not come even two weeks or 10 days ago, we would have got a specialist doubles team in place'
Sania Mirza, paring with Brazilian Bruno Soares, bowed out of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open after being beaten in the semis on Friday. Leander Paes kept himself in line for his 15th Grand Slam title by making it to the final.
India's Leander Paes and Brazil's Andre Sa crashed out in the men's doubles event of the Australian Open after losing 6-4, 6-7, 4-6 to Max Mirnyi and Treat Huey in the first round on Thursday.
Sania Mirza set herself up for her first-ever women's doubles Grand Slam title, while seasoned pro Leander Paes is now one win away from his 16th Major trophy as the two Indians reached the Wimbledon finals with their respective partners.
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