Mahesh Bhupathi did it and it was also deemed admissible. But now that Rohan Bopanna had the temerity to turn his back on Davis Cup, the flak is flying quick and fast.
Davis Cup is national duty and that should come first, believes the federation
NEW DELHI: Harsh Mankad did it and it was fine. Mahesh Bhupathi did it and it was also deemed admissible. But now that Rohan Bopanna had the temerity to turn his back on Davis Cup, the flak is flying quick and fast.
On Friday, AITA president Yashwant Sinha expressed his unhappiness in a release saying that national duty should come first and personal rankings can follow. Sinha is said to be not too pleased with Rohan opting out at the last moment in an attempt to raise his personal doubles rankings.
“Rohan’s situation is very different. The others told us well in advance but Rohan sent us a one-line e-mail a day before we were going to announce the squad. Further, he could have played the Delray Beach tournament and still come for Davis Cup,” says AITA secretary Anil Khanna.
When it was pointed out that Rohan chose to go to the US as he had a wild card entry in a $416,000 event, Khanna said: “If he wants wild card entries, the AITA can get him those across Asia. But he has to sit down with us and tell us his career plan, not spring a surprise like this at a time when he was the key member of our challenge against Uzbekistan.”
AITA is also not too confident about Rohan’s motives and is not entirely convinced that he stayed away only for professional reasons. In an attempt to settle the issue of Leander Paes’ captaincy once and for all, the body expressed its full confidence in his ability. “We support Leander 100% and believe he is the best man for the job. He is emotional but not into politics of playing players against each other,” Khanna added.
The AITA is peeved at Rohan as it feels that it had financially helped the player at the formative stage of his career and now when he is beginning to peak he is abandoning the cause of the country for his personal good.
All else is fine but Sinha and AITA do seem to be a bit out of sync with the realities of modern sport. While Rohan can be at fault for the delay in announcing his intentions, the AITA also needs to realise that professional players must make enough money in their short careers to last out a lifetime.
Perhaps the body needs to look towards making Davis Cup more attractive financially by reducing its 50% stake in the prize money and sponsor revenue the team gets. After all, not everybody is a Leander who will leave a lucrative week on tour in order to see the flag fly high.
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