Veteran tennis player Leander Paes was dropped from the Indian team today for the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan that will be held in Bengaluru from April 7 to 9.

Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi took the decision and selected Rohan Bopanna to pair with Sriram Balaji in the second round Davis Cup tie in Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania zone to be played at the KSLTA.

Leander Paes in an interview to Times Now, said, "The sport of tennis is a lot bigger than me, playing for the country is a lot bigger than me. I feel I am in good form. I won an ATP challenger tournament. I have come here to represent the country."

When asked about the strategy of having three singles and one doubles players, he said, "I think that every captain has the right to have their choice in choosing the team, especially the best team that can put forward for the tie. For me, that criteria should remain a constant. It should not fluctuate, and it seems to fluctuate a lot in this case."

While Paes has been dropped out, Bopanna and Balaji will feature in the doubles match against Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev. Bopanna is ranked 23rd in the world 34 spots above Paes.

This is the first time in 27 years that Leander Paes has been dropped out of the Davis Cup tournament. He debuted his Davis Cup against Japan in 1990. He is currently locked at 42 with Italian legend Nico Pietrangeli and is one win away from the record for most doubles wins in Davis Cup history. (With inputs from Agencies)

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Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi drops Leander Paes from Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan - Bangalore Mirror