Rajiv wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:56 amLeander and Boppanna never or hardly talk to each other , but when it came to playing for the Nation it was a different story all together
Actually they seemed to have gotten along just fine this time. I am sure some of you saw the instagram selfie that Bops took a couple of days ahead of the match, of himself and Leander laughing heartily and Mahesh playing the fool from behind, making faces. That was cool. They are all older, and many people realize at some point that maybe it's not worth it to fight endlessly and spoil their own names. Smart of them, if that is the case. Already we all have more respect for them all for what they just did.
Sadly this commitment to play for the country as shown by LP/Bops, and the top guys in world for their respective nations was sorely lacking in Yuki.
That is probably not fair yet, Rajiv. If he repeats this too often, we can get on his case. Right now, he probably does have a real physical issue and even a 10 day break might hve been useful. He would have got only 3-4 days away from courts otherwise. It makes a difference. Hey, Leander did exactly this once (before the tie in Italy in 1998), and I have personal info from the horse's mouth that he had no real physical issue (which he proved by showing up on Monday and reaching the SF at Chennai) and was doing it "only to give the limelight to Hesh and Srinath to show what they can do rather than be under my shadow" (his own words to me). Yuki is certainly not doing anything of that kind. He probably felt that a break is crucial for him now at this stage of his career. But I will agree with you if he makes a habit of it. LP did it only one time in his career that I remember. He was always available for India otherwise, though there were occasions when he took some ties very lightly and showed up pretty late by the Thursday before the tie.