NEW DELHI: Not leaving anything to chance, India played it safe on Friday by picking its best-ranked players – Sasikumar Mukund and Ramkumar Ramanathan – for their Davis Cup World Group 1 Playoff tie against Togo.
Mukund, the No. 1 singles player in Indian squad, will begin the campaign on Day 1 with a match against Liova Ayite Ajavon, while Ramkumar Ramanathan will play the only ranked player in the Togo side, Thomas Setodji.
The second day will witness the doubles pair of N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli taking on the duo of Setodji and Isak Padio before Ramkumar and Mukund play the reverse singles.
“In Davis Cup you can’t take anything for granted. You’ve seen India have been unseeded and reached the finals. Similarly, we can’t take (any chance) in this format which is World Group. It’s a very merit-based system now. You have to be good to reach here. If they’re playing the playoffs, I’m sure that they play at a good level,” India’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal told reporters.
Giving the example of a conversation on Thursday, Rajpal reiterated that his side are not taking Togo lightly. “One of our seniors mentioned on Thursday that India should look at 5-0. Their captain came right back and said don’t take us for granted. We’re here to win.”
Mukund, world No. 365, meanwhile said he was looking forward to the match for some redemption, having crashed out against Morocco in Lucknow with injury on his Davis Cup debut in 2023. “Morocco was definitely not an easy experience for me on debut. Hopefully, tomorrow is my chance to redeem myself. I’m looking forward to that. I can get past the finish line and give the team what they are expecting from me,” Mukund said.
Doubles specialist Bollipalli said it was a “dream come true” for being given the chance to make his Davis Cup debut on Saturday. “It’s very exciting. It’s a dream come true for me to play in Davis Cup. But I’m just going to treat it like any other match that I play as I don’t want to give it any special preference. I just want to go ahead and play the way I usually do to give myself the best chance.”