Davis Cup: India play Canada

which was conducted in London on Tuesday.

Last year in the playoffs, India had lost 0-5 to Spain, who went on to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Novak Djokovic-led Serbia 4-1.

However, Canada, who lost to Great Britain 3-2 in the World Group Round 1 in February when Denis Shapovalov was disqualified after he erroneously hit the chair umpire with a ball, will bank on players like Vasek Pospisil (119) and Peter Polansky (127) besides the 17-year-old Shapovalov (172).

India are likely to be at full strength for the tie with the injured Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri expected to join Ramkumar Ramanathan for singles action.

Indian tennis fans will keep a close eye on how non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi goes about picking his four-man squad for the crucial tie after his selection criteria caused a major controversy in Bangalore, with Leander Paes accusing him of bias. Will Bhupathi again opt for three singles players and a lone doubles specialist or take two singles and two doubles players, pairing Paes with Rohan Bopanna?

Canada’s singles players are ranked higher than their Indian counterparts and putting up a strong doubles combination could, at least, keep the Indian hopes alive till the third day.