Davis Cup 2017 - India

[sameerph]

So, from last year's Asia Oceania group 1, Kazakhstan got promoted to world group. Taiwan gets relegated to group II after losing the relegation play off against Korea and Pakistan gets promoted from group II due after their 3-2 win over Thailand in promotional play off of group II. It is quite amazing how they still remain at this level playing with almost 2 players - Aisam and Aqeel Khan for at least last 10 year as far as I can remember.

So, these will be the teams in Asia Oceania group 1 next year -

India
Uzbekistan
China
Korea
New Zealand
Pakistan

Only 6 nations against 7 last year due to Kazakstan's promotion. We should be comfortably top seeded in this group ahead of Uzbekistan ( our ranking of 18 against Uzbekistan's 27). Top 2 seeds should get a first round bye (as the draw is only of 6)

So, we should get a first round bye next year and then play 1 of the remaining 4 - China , Korea, New Zeland or Pakistan who will meet each other in first round. All of these ties will be away ties.

Beat one of these teams away and we are again into world group play offs next year.

[jaydeep]

Mahesh's comment on thsi tie ... Praised Yuki and RamK with their performances but not happy about our doubles performance.

We failed to capitalize on opportunities: Mahesh Bhupath

"We are not dreaming of 5-0. We are focussed on winning 3 out of the 5," Bhupathi had said. But alas, his team lost the tie 2-3."
"We are definitely disappointed," Bhupathi told TOI from Edmonton after the tie. "We came so close to making it to the World Group but we failed again. It was those missed chances throughout the tie that cost us. At this stage if you don't grab every little opportunity you get, you will have to pay dearly. And till we sort this out, there will be a huge gap between India and the best."
"I am really proud of the way they have played. Ram and Yuki showed the hunger and the fighting spirit on the opening day. As a captain I can be proud. I knew Canada was the toughest we had but to be honest I believed we could win the tie because of the summers both Yuki and Ra have had. Even today Ram had two set points in the second set. Had he converted them, it could have been a different story."
"I think after a long time I am really excited by the future of these two players. I think Ram is especially doing exceptionally well and Yuki needs to work on staying healthy. If they can continue they hard work both of them will break into top-100 soon."
"We have had problems in doubles for a few ties now. We still have not been able to strike the correct combination. Saketh (Myneni) wasn't fit to partner Bopanna and Purav was brought but that isn't an excuse for the loss. We need to address this issue soon."

[suresh]

Choosing Saki on the team was Hesh's choice. He did that knowing that he was coming back from injury and had not fully returned to the tour. I wonder if Purav or someone else was chosen well in advance, our doubles team would have had more time to get ready. So if doubles was our weak point, the Hesh has to take a decent share of the blame.

[PKBasu]

Even in the Facebook team photo on Thursday before the tie, Saketh was shown alongside Rohan, Yuki and RamRam.
Picking him was bizarre, given that he (with VSP) had played doubles against Vishnu/Balaji at a Challenger and been thrashed 26 26. (He and RamK did much better against Darcis/Paire, losing 8-10 in the STB after taking a set, but that was 8 months ago). If he wasn't fit and in form, that should have evident during the week's training. Balaji was presumably on hand, as was Prajnesh. God knows why they suddenly went with Purav. (If they had to pick him, surely Leander-Purav was the natural pairing, or Leander-Rohan, as a pair that has won a few big Davis Cup matches together, although they've also had their share of losses).

[S_K_S]

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this because I didn't want it to come across as Bhupathi bashing; of which there is already enough on this site, but after some deliberation I thought to go ahead:

I was intrigued at the dynamics being played out on the bench during the doubles match especially after Purav lost his serve at 5-6 in the 1st and then the 2nd. During the change overs Mahesh focused solely on Purav. There was no mic to know what was being said so he could have been giving advice/ lecturing or telling him off. Body language wise, he was standing over him and there was a fair bit of finger pointing. Regardless of that, what was obvious was the impact this was having on Purav. He looked absolutely petrified. His eyes were wide open with a few nods of the head. You don't need to be an expert in psychology to know that the approach that was being adopted was having totally the opposite impact that it was supposed to. Like in any walk of life, some people react to being told off and others like an arm around the shoulder. I have heard stories where players in stressful situation do very random things to diffuse the situation. Shane Warne famously talked with Healy about where they are going for dinner that night before clean bowling the Pakistani batsman with the last ball of the day. Famous doubles pairings have also talked about talking about random things at the change overs to take the tension out of the situation. I am not saying that's what should have happened but it's just to emphasise that the approach adopted with Purav didn't work.

What was also interesting was that not a word was spoken to Rohan nor was he involved in the discussions. It was like the kid in the class who had done his homework was getting away scot free and the person who had forgotten his homework was getting read the riot act. A few mentions have been made of the so called "team approach" but to me that didn't look like a "team". It came across as very much a "I am alright, Jack. I am holding my serve and playing okay and you are not." All year these guys don't have a coach on court so when things go wrong they have to figure it out as a pair but I didn't see that happening which was very frustrating.

Anyway, like I said this is not to bash Bhupathi, as I am sure he will learn from the experience, and hopefully get to know the players better in what makes them tick.

[suresh]

Anyway, like I said this is not to bash Bhupathi, as I am sure he will learn from the experience, and hopefully get to know the players better in what makes them tick.

Hope Hesh also learns from this contest. At the end of the day, we did rather well coming within a whiff of causing an upset. Hopefully, we will have a solid doubles team in place when we get back to a world group playoff match.

[jai_in_canada]

..... During the change overs Mahesh focused solely on Purav. There was no mic to know what was being said so he could have been giving advice/ lecturing or telling him off. Body language wise, he was standing over him and there was a fair bit of finger pointing. Regardless of that, what was obvious was the impact this was having on Purav. He looked absolutely petrified. His eyes were wide open with a few nods of the head.

...

That's pretty awful.. for Purav, and indeed to the entire team. What a terrible way to treat a junior member of the team. In public. Who's coaching the captain? Obviously the approach did work. And later Bhupathi pretty much laid the blame on the doubles loss.

Can't say that i am surprised. And I'm not optimistic about Hesh changing his ways.

[Omkara]

Bhupathi is an utter disaster. His decision to take a10 min break 4th set is what cost yuki the match.

[Prashant]

So we know that Mahesh told Yuki to take that break? Or is this speculation?

[S_K_S]

Not seen anything in print or on video so would presume it's speculation

[VReddy]

Since most of us appear to be in the mode of picking on Mahesh here, thought I should punt in too. Hopefully the Yuki 10-min break was not a Mahesh initiated decision unless some of you have personal contact with the players.

Vis-a-vis Mahesh's handling of Purav. These guys know each other / trust each other for a long time. I am basing this on the fact that Purav was an integral part of IPTL (so are Somdev, Sania, Rohan). Mahesh's man-management approach may not be pleasing to the eye (ala Kumble in Cricket) but should be fine as long as he gets the job done. It wouldn't have mattered on Saturday if Mahesh's approach was say more Somdev like. Purav has worked with Mahesh long enough to understand what to expect. Thankfully there is no Kohli in this team to create the second power center!

I personally find it about time that we took the 3-player Singles approach and hopefully one of the singles player is off the type who has a solid doubles career too. Saketh would fit that mould perfectly and then in the future, Sumit and then later Yuki would fit into that territory.

I am personally super happy with where Indian Tennis is headed these days especially compared to end of last year when Yuki / Saketh were out, Ram stuck at the same level. This is huge huge progress!

The bigger concern for me is the nepotism that is coming into play. It was Mahesh's team in action all the way. Rohan donning the Captaincy role, Purav picked ahead of Divij, Somdev in action with the team, Zeven being the official apparel brand, Somdev leading the high performance center, Somdev being the govt incharge for nominations to the TOP Scheme and so on. However, there is a reason why most of the top players owe their allegiance to Mahesh - he has done more than anybody (sans Naresh Kumar?) to help nurture all these top talents across the board. I personally wish more power to Mahesh atleast for the next 5 years, he needs to become the power center at AITA. If Mahesh is involved, Somdev will be involved. In my opinion, Somdev involved in a key role with Indian Tennis is the best thing to happen for us.

Enough of my long post - just wanted to say more power to Mahesh for the reasons cited above

[jayakris]

However, there is a reason why most of the top players owe their allegiance to Mahesh - he has done more than anybody (sans Naresh Kumar?) to help nurture all these top talents across the board. I personally wish more power to Mahesh atleast for the next 5 years, he needs to become the power center at AITA. If Mahesh is involved, Somdev will be involved. In my opinion, Somdev involved in a key role with Indian Tennis is the best thing to happen for us.

Bingo! The players know what Mahesh is doing, and he has done a lot for Indian tennis (whether you agree with his politics or not) over the years. It can only help. And I am totally with your Somedev comment too. I was also a bit puzzled at picking Saketh when he was not injured, and then Purav, but I generally think that Mahesh knows the pulse of most of the players much better than anybody else, and he commands enough of friendship and respect from them too. Much more than he commands from us over here, for sure

[prasen9]

Mahesh's man-management approach may not be pleasing to the eye (ala Kumble in Cricket) but should be fine as long as he gets the job done.

Bingo! Which he didn't. If he had got the job done, then people would not have talked about the toilet break or the Purav talk. These things happen when people lose. Time to move on. I don't care what he does as long as he gets the job done (and does not physically beat up the players ) I am fine.

I am personally super happy with where Indian Tennis is headed these days especially compared to end of last year when Yuki / Saketh were out, Ram stuck at the same level. This is huge huge progress!

If you are happy with ATP 150 types, then this is progress. Yuki has regressed from his high but a few others have progressed. Let's hope we make some real progress where we have at least one in the top 100, another in top 200, a top-10 doubles pair, etc.

[Sin Hombre]

Having ATP 150 types is "real progress" for us.

[prasen9]

(1) By the exact meaning of the world "real", it is. However, by that token and improvement by 1 position in rank is also "real" and it is progress. When we use the terms together, we mean substantial progress or meaningful progress. And, then it becomes subjective to define "real progress". In my mind, that means achieving higher ranks than 150 types. Of course, on an individual basis, achieving 950 is real progress for someone who moved up from 951, but, I don't think we would be excited about that.

(2) Progress relative to when? I know he said wrt last year. And, yes, wrt last year it is real progress if you just care that the ranks have improved. I am not that excited by the quanta of the jump. I have grown up with Amritraj and Krishnan, then we had an under-100 Paes, a under-200 Bhupati, and the world's best doubles team, etc. From those days, we have regressed. And, not made any real progress on a collective basis. Progress relative to the dark days when Somdev was the only show in town? Perhaps. But, I am not that enthused by the 150-types which is what we have now, and, that is the main point I was trying to make (real progress or not). I understand that to go to top-100 from top-200, you need to go through 150. But, I don't have much hopes that these guys will make it and stay there consistently. I will be excited when someone gets into the top-100 and can hold on for a couple of years.