Paes arrived in Rio just a day before their opening clash against the Polish pair of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, and the duo's lack of understanding showed when they lost in straight sets to crash out of the first round.
Mahesh Bhupathi has put the blame squarely on Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna for not showing enough interest in playing a few matches together before the Rio Olympics.
Paes arrived in Rio just a day before their opening clash against the Polish pair of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, and the duo's lack of understanding showed when they lost in straight sets to crash out of the first round.
Asked if the men's doubles team was under-prepared for the mega event, India's ex-doubles player shot back, saying: "Not under-prepared, there was no preparation at all."
"They did not practise, did not play any matches together. Even when Leander and me were not playing on tour in 2004 and 2008 (before Athens and Beijing Games), we always came together, played a couple of tournaments together. That's what the Olympics demands," Paes's former doubles partner added.
India's men's doubles team for the Games was selected in controversial circumstances, much like before the 2012 London Olympics. Bopanna, who had broken into the top-10 rankings, wanted to partner Saketh Myneni but his right was shot down by the All India Tennis Association (AITA), who decided to send Paes for his seventh Olympics.
The 42-year-old Bhupathi reckoned that the two didn't show any effort to gel on and off the court. For the record, Paes and Bopanna just played a lone Davis Cup match against South Korea before their Rio sojourn.
"Everybody expected it," Bhupathi said when asked about the unsavory build-up to the Games. "Everyone was keeping quiet till it actually surfaced. I am happy it did not get out of hand.
"We (Bhupathi and Paes) won 200 matches on (ATP) tour, (but) we (still) made an effort to do it. This time they went in cold. Obviously one match against a dilapidated Korean Davis Cup team is not the way to prepare for the Olympics," Bhupathi, who was in the city as a chief guest to launch the 11Even Sports Inter Schools Maharashtra table tennis tournament, said.
The 42-year-old added that a medal from the two was never expected anyway.
"That (medal) was never going to happen in the (men's) doubles. Our best bet was mixed (doubles). Unfortunately, we came close, but it did not happen," he said.
In the mixed doubles, Bopanna and Sania Mirza had a solid run till the semifinals, but then ran into an inspired Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram of the US in the bronze medal playoff match.
"They were very unlucky. They were so close. I mean, 3-1 up in super tie breaker and 6-2 in the first set. You have to give credit to Venus Williams who stepped it up and played amazing tennis in the super tie-breaker," Bhupathi said.
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