Sumit Nagal has once again refused to play for the country in the Davis Cup and has put forward ‘unfair conditions’ for his comeback while Shashikumar Mukund returned to the national team for the clash against Togo on Friday as the AITA Executive Committee had canceled his suspension.
Nagal, who has been struggling on the ATP Tour, had withdrawn from the match against Sweden in September citing a back strain. He had also refused to go to Islamabad for the match against Pakistan in January-February, saying that grass grounds did not suit his playing style. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) selection panel has named a five-member squad with Mukund being the highest-ranked singles player at No. 368.
Mukund was suspended and was not part of the match against Sweden. But non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal spoke to the talented player who then made himself available for the World Group A play-off match to be held in New Delhi on February 1-2. A source said, “Captain Rajpal spoke to Mukund after which the executive committee canceled his suspension and hence he was selected. He is a good player and should be given a chance to wear the India jersey again.
Rajpal will continue to lead the Davis Cup team in the 2025 season. It is learned that he tried to convince Nagal to return to playing for the national team. But when the players were asked about their availability, they did not respond to that mail. Yuki Bhambri, who also missed the Sweden match, has declared himself unavailable for the competition.
Rajpal told PTI, “I am extremely disappointed with Sumit who did not make himself available for this fight. Last time also we had agreed to all his demands, still he refused to play in the national team which is unacceptable. “Nagal has made some unreasonable demands which cannot be accepted,” an AITA source said.
Ramkumar Ramanathan (ranked 393) and Karan Singh (473) are the two other singles players in the team. In the absence of Bhambri (ranked 48), N Sriram Balaji (65) will lead the doubles team and is likely to partner Ritwik Choudhary Bolipalli (72), who has been included in the national team for the first time. Four players Aryan Shah (592), Manas Dhamane, Dakshineswar Suresh and Yuvan Nandal will be called to the training camp and two reserve players will be selected from them.
An AITA source said, “It was on Nagal’s request that a slow hard court was chosen for this match but now he has said that he will not play.” If he had made his stand clear, Captain Rajpal would have chosen grass court for this match.