Captain Amritraj contradicts Nagal
He has asked AITA to take action against the 19-yr-old
NEW DELHI: Sumit Nagal may have defended himself but India’s outgoing Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj, on Thursday, said there were no denying the disciplinary issues concerning the youngster and called on the AITA to take appropriate action.
It is learnt that Nagal was dropped from the Indian Davis Cup team because of disciplinary issues, which the 19-yearold has refuted. But his claims of innocence are now being challenged by Amritraj, whose captaincy swansong would be the tie against New Zealand next month.
“After reading the reports of the last 2 days about Sumit Nagal, here is what happened in Delhi during the Spain tie. On the Monday before the tie, Sumit showed up at the Hyatt in Delhi with a girl, in the process of checking in. Zeeshan and I saw this,” Amritraj said.
“That afternoon we had a chat with Hironmoy Chatterjee, and soon after, both Zeeshan and I sat down with Sumit and I told him it was not acceptable to have the girl there and that she should be sent home. He did this right away,” he added.
While players such as Somdev Devvarman have defended Nagal and attacked the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for letting out details of his indiscipline, Amritraj further clarified that the player did have issues with regards to drinking during the Chandigarh tie.
“On the issue of the cleaning out of the mini bar in Chandigarh, I had absolutely no idea this had happened at that time, till it was brought to my attention much later. If I had known this when I spoke to Sumit about the girl in Delhi, I would certainly have told him this was not acceptable behaviour either and should not happen again,” Amritraj said.
The outgoing captain also said that AITA should take action against the youngster. “Sumit is a fine young man with a bright future in tennis. He is also just 19 years, and from my point of view, everyone including the AITA should cut him some slack. He should also be told, just as I did, that certain behaviour is unacceptable during Davis Cup weeks when you are representing the country and the flag. I’m sure he will have no problem with that,” Amritraj said.
Meanwhile, AITA issued a press release denying that any of its officials had let out Nagal’s indiscretions to the media. “Sumit is an upcoming player and has a very promising future. Issues, if any, relating to his conduct have been addressed by the Captain and the Coach confidentially as is the appropriate procedure,” AITA Secretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee said in a statement.