Sumit Nagal returns to Indian Davis Cup crew, Divij Sharan dropped
Sumit Nagal on Thursday made a comeback to the Indian Davis Cup crew for the away World Group I tie in opposition to Norway whereas doubles specialist Divij Sharan was dropped after falling behind within the pecking order.
Expectedly, nation’s primary singles participant Ramkumar Ramanathan (ranked 196), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (295), Sasikumar Mukund (431), Yuki Bhambri (571), doubles exponent Rohan Bopanna (21) have been named within the crew because the Nandan Bal-led choice committee picked 4 specialist singles gamers.
Arjun Kadhe (519) and Sidharth Rawat (566) are ranked above Yuki but when the Delhi participant is to make use of his Protected Ranking, he can be in top-100. And going by the category of Yuki, it solely is smart to have a participant of his calibre on the aspect.
Of the six gamers, one can be named a reserve by captain Rohit Rajpal after assessing circumstances in Norway and it is going to be a five-member unit that can compete on September 16 and 17.
Most seemingly, Sasikumar, who’s but to play a Davis Cup tie, shall be a reserve participant.
Sumit Nagal, who underwent a hip surgical procedure in November 2021, started competing on the circuit from April this 12 months. In eight tournaments this season, Nagal has gained 4 matches.
The 24-year-old participant from Haryana final performed a Davis Cup tie in opposition to Croatia in March 2021 and missed the next matches in opposition to Finland (September 2021) and Denmark (March 2022).
“The courts are expected to be slow in Norway, so Sumit comes into play there. Slow courts suit the game style of Sumit. If courts are faster we have the option of Yuki and Ramkumar. So we have to have four singles players in the side,” Nandan Bal instructed PTI.
“Both Ramkumar and Yuki are playing doubles also and doing well. So there was no place for Divij Sharan in the side this time. He comes in only as doubles specialist and these guys can play both singles and doubles,” he mentioned.
Divij has misplaced his place in top-100 doubles rankings. He is now ranked 196 and there are seven Indian gamers ranked above him aside from the top-ranked Rohan Bopanna.
It would be the first time that India and Norway will compete in opposition to one another in Davis Cup.
India had blanked Denmark 4-0 in New Delhi within the World Group Play-offs in March this 12 months.
