Sport

‘Bopanna will play a crucial role’

NEW DELHI: A spell of sunshine drove away the cold as the Indian team tried to tune itself for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan.

The preparations suffered a set back as Prakash Amritraj was down with an upset stomach, and could not join practice on Monday.

Former Davis Cup captain Naresh Kumar visited the Indian camp and had a long conversation with his prodigy, the current non-playing captain Leander Paes.

Naresh said Rohan Bopanna would play a significant role. “I saw the other team practice. It is a tough tie. I had also seen (Denis) Istomin’s match against (Lleyton) Hewitt. It was well contested. The other fellow (Farrukh Dustov) is serving good.

“The doubles should be ours and we can actually go into the tie 1-0. Rohan is playing well. I watched him at the Hopman Cup, and he was particularly impressive in the mixed doubles. The whole tie will depend on Rohan,” Naresh said.

“He is not that old, and the points on grass are short. He should be able to handle the challenge. Am sure he will play doubles with (Mahesh) Bhupathi in this tie,” Naresh said.

Meanwhile, Leander took time off from the training at the NSCI, to visit the R. K. Khanna Stadium and have a look at the match court.

“The grass is long but they say that it has been difficult to prepare the court in the cold season. The surface does not absorb much water because of the concrete and synthetic surface around. We will have to see how the court shapes up and holds together,” Leander said.

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