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Davis Cup: After 55 years, India’s tennis team set to go to Pakistan in September

An Indian team will be travelling to Pakistan for the first time in 55 years.

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For the first time in 55 years, an Indian team will be travelling to Pakistan to compete in a Davis Cup tie. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) confirmed the team’s participation in the Asia/ Oceania Group 1 away tie.

The tournament will be held at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad from September 14-15.

“Yes, we will be going,” AITA Secretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee told ANI. "It is like a world cup of tennis and not a bilateral series, so there is no embargo on any front. It's a world event, we have to abide by Olympic charter”

The Davis Cup draw was out in February, but the team’s participation seemed bleak following the Pulwama attack later that month. The sports ministry, however, had made it clear that the decision to compete remained solely with the AITA.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official said, “Sports ministry does not interfere in team selections, the participation of tournaments or visits to countries by sportspersons”.

Following an inspection of the venue in Islamabad by the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF), the Indian tennis body announced its decision.

“The ITF had sent representatives to Islamabad on the 22nd of this month,” said Chatterjee. “Once they cleared it, we sent our details to the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) so that they could issue the invitation letter. That letter has come, so we have started the visa application process. It takes about four to five weeks to complete the visa process.”

AITA is yet to announce the final squad for the tournament. “The team will officially be announced later, and it will be based on rankings,” said Chatterjee. “But we more or less know the team.”

Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi and coach Zeeshan Ali will most likely choose India’s top-three ranked men’s singles players, Prajnesh Gunneswaran (ranked 88), Ramkumar Ramanathan (185) and Sumit Nagal (207). Sole India’s top-two ranked doubles specialists Rohan Bopanna (45) and Divij Sharan (46) will also be included.

The winner of the tie will earn a spot in the World Group playoffs next year.

India-Pakistan tension:

India has skipped most of the sporting events hosted by Pakistan for over a decade. The 2007 cricket tour to Pakistan was the last “away” sporting trip that India went on.

The last time India played Pakistan in the Davis Cup was in 2006, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The hosts came up with a 3-2 win to take India’s head-to-head tally against Pakistan to 6-0.

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