Davis Cup | AITA announces unprecedented eight-man squad for tie against Pakistan

While usually a five-man squad has always been named previously for Davis Cup ties, with two players in the reserve, the national tennis association has gone ahead to increase that number by three. It has been seen more of a reward for the players agreeing to travel to Islamabad after some top players refused.

Amongst the big names missing would be Divij Sharan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran. After initially agreeing to play the tie, the delay in the tie owing to security concerns in Islamabad eventually saw both of them pull out. Both of the players are set to get married this month.

However, India will have the legendary Leander Paes back in their squad after almost a year and would be supported by the likes of emerging sensation Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi Kumar Mukund, and veteran Rohan Bopanna. 

Apart from them, AITA has also gifted places to Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Saketh Myneni, and Siddharth Rawat, with the squad having as many as three doubles specialists. The names, who were excluded despite making them available for the tour to Pakistan, are Arjun Kadhe, Vijay Sundar Prashanth, N Sriram Balaji and Manish Sureshkumar.

The meeting, which was held at DLTA, was done in the presence of non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, Balram Singh, Zeeshan Ali, and Ankita Bhambri, while Nandan Bal provided inputs as well through a conference call.

Squad: Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi Kumar Mukund, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Siddharth Rawat.

Captain: Rohit Rajpal, Coach: Zeeshan Ali, Physio: Anand Kumar, Team Manager: Sunder Iyer.