Veteran doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi made a comeback for national duty as a five-member Indian team for the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan was announced in New Delhi on Tuesday.
While some reports claim the mutation is capable of enhancing the infectivity of the virus, this is not well established and also does not necessarily indicate more virulence or harmfulness of the disease.
India on Wednesday announced a four-member team with Sania Mirza as the spearhead for the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I & II matches scheduled in Bangkok from January 28-February 3.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi took India to the World Group play-offs as they won the doubles encounter against Japan and clinch the Asia Oceania round II tie 3-0 in New Delhi on Saturday. India's top singles players Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj had come through tough five-setters on Friday.
Leander Paes says playing doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi was one of the worst decisions of his career. India's Davis Cup captain said he sacrificed his singles career by opting to team with Bhupathi in the late nineties.
Shunning all the injury worries, India's Rohan Bopanna will play the opening match against Japan's No 1 player Kei Nishikori in the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tie, in New Delhi, from April 11 to 13. India's top player Prakash Amritraj will take on Go Soeda in the second singles, after the visitors went with the rankings and left out their most experienced Davis Cupper Takao Suzuki from the singles line-up.
Country's highest ranked singles player Rohan Bopanna trails his Japanese counterpart Kei Nishikori by more than 200 rungs but India's Davis Cup captain Leander Paes is confident the hosts will put up a brave fight in the upcoming Asia-Oceania Group-I tie starting in New Delhi on April 11.
The youngster faces Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, while Rohan Bopanna will play Farrukh Dustov in the Asia Oceania Zone Group I tie.
India's decision to rest star player Sania Mirza in the opening match itself against Indonesia backfired as they lost 1-2 in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Federation Cup tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.
All eyes will be on veteran Leander Paes, who is the on the cusp of a historic world record in perhaps his last appearance in Davis Cup.
The World Cup will expand to 48 teams from its current 32, starting with the 2026 edition of football's showpiece tournament.
Somdev Devvarman recorded his first Davis Cup win to keep India afloat in the second round tie against Chinese Taipei as both the teams were locked 1-1 on the opening day of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie in Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei) on Friday.
Sania Mirza feels Ankita Raina's performance in the recent Fed Cup was encouraging
India were on Saturday relegated to Group II of the Asia/Oceania zone after their humiliating 0-3 defeat against Chinese Taipei in the Fed Cup play-off tie here.
The Indian team badly missed Sania Mirza as it made a horrendous start to the Fed Cup, losing 0-3 to New Zealand in their opening Group I tie of the Asia/Oceania zone in Perth on Wednesday.
John Fitzgerald has been reappointed non-playing captain of Australia's Davis Cup squad for 2008 despite failing to keep the 28-times champions in the World Group. Australia lost their place in the elite World Group for the first time since 1991 when they lost a relegation tie against Serbia in September.
The All India Tennis Association decided against seeking a change of venue for the Davis Cup tie versus Pakistan in Islamabad, scheduled on September 14 and 15.
Indian captain Leander Paes went down in a close contest against Satoshi Iwabuchi, while Mahesh Bhupathi surrendered tamely against Kei Nishikori as Japan closed the margin to 2-3 in the Asia Oceania Davis Cup round II tie in New Delhi on Sunday. Paes lost 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 to the left-handed Iwabuchi in a dramatic fifth rubber after Bhupathi had folded to a 5-7, 1-6 defeat against Japan's no.1 Nishikori.
The start of the third day of the Asia Oceania Davis Cup round two tie between India and Japan has been delayed due to light showers in New Delhi on Sunday. Play will start at 1030 IST, the organisers said. Having already sealed the tie 3-0 on Saturday, India will field veteran doubles duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in the reverse singles.
In a match that sowed the seeds of dissention in the Indian team, Pakistan's Aqeel Khan thinks he would have always liked to play the fifth rubber against Leander Paes in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania relegation play-off tie in Mumbai in April 2006.
Ankita also shrugged off poor umpiring to emerge a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 winner in two hours and 25 minutes against a player, who was ranked as high as 27 last year and had beaten top-10 players.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna beat Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in the Group 1 Asia/Oceania Davis Cup match.
Honours were even at the end of the opening day in the Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup match between India and Uzbekistan after Rohan Bopanna won the first singles.
Somdev Dev Varman will be looking to repay the team's faith in him when he makes his Davis Cup debut for India against Uzbekistan.
India were relegated to the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone group II after top seeds Australia blanked them 3-0 in their third and final group I match in Bangkok on Friday.
India were beaten 1-2 by New Zealand in their second match of the Asia/Oceania Group I Federation Cup match in Bangkok, on Thursday.
The Indian team suffered a double blow as they lost their the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Federation Cup opener to lowly opponents Indonesia 1-2 and star player Sania Mirza, yet to recover from her hamstring injury, rendered unfit for next pool tie.
Five-times Davis Cup champions Spain will host Britain in the first round of the 2018 competition.
AITA won't force any player to travel to Pakistan and is willing to send even a second-string team to avoid suspension
Yashwant Sinha expressed displeasure over Rohan Bopanna's decision to opt out of the upcoming Davis Cup tie.
India have been seeded third in Group I of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania zone. They have been given a bye in the first round before taking on the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan in the second round, scheduled from March 6 to 8, 2009.
Increased investments in traditional manufacturing sector helped India surpass South Korea to become Asia's fourth largest FDI recipient in 2006, a UNCTAD report said.
Indian girls went down 0-3 to Thailand in the Asia/Oceania Zone of the World Junior tennis.
Tara Iyer and Ankita Bhambri blanked their opponents as India beat Jordan 3-0 in the Fed Cup.
Paes' inclusion under cloud as Indian team readies for a shake-up
Leander Paes and sunil Kumar Sipaeya will team up for the doubles in the match against Uzbekistan.
The source said logistics became a big issue for almost all the participating countries.
Vivek Shokeen and Somdev Dev Varman were named in the team to face Uzbekistan the Asia-Oceania Group 1 first round away tie.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
