Bhupathi sends Paes, Bopanna to the benches

NEWDELHI: India’s new Davis Cup non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi made his intentions clear that he wanted to go with young faces in the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan when he put two of the seniormost players – Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna – in the reserves.

Though the final decision on selection was taken by the chairman of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) selection committee, Mahesh Bhupathi was consulted on the issue of selection. And the former tennis great, who once paired with Leander Paes to bring India lots of glory in doubles, made his choices clear on Tuesday. The team which will play Uzbekistan in the April 7-9 tie at Bangalore comprises Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sriram Balaji. Doubles specialists Paes and Bopanna are the two reserves, while Vishnu Vardhan has been added as a practice partner besides two juniors.