NEW DELHI: India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal on Friday returned to the Davis Cup squad after a two-year absence while number one doubles player Yuki Bhambri also made a comeback to the national fold after missing two ties as the AITA selection panel picked an eight-member squad for the away match against Switzerland.
India will travel to the city of Biel for the World Group I first-round tie, which will be played on indoor courts from September 12.
The two teams met the last time in 1993 on the grass courts of South Club in Kolkata, when Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes helped the team win the tie 3-2. The Indian duo won their singles matches against Jakob Hlasek, and won the doubles in five sets against Hlasek and Marc Rosset. The Barcelona Olympics gold medallist, Rosset won both his singles matches then.
Nagal’s last appearance was the home tie against Morocco in Lucknow in September 2023 where he won both his singles matches in India’s 4-1 win. He did not travel to Pakistan for the historic tie in February 2024 and also missed the subsequent matches against Sweden and Togo.
Nagal has dropped outside the top-300 bracket due to lack of form and unfavourable results this season. A semifinal finish at the Trieste Challenger in Italy this month has been his best showing this season.
Apart from Nagal (ranked 306), India chose singles players in Karan Singh (403) and young Aryan Shah (442). Sasikumar Mukund (463) and talented Dakshineshwar Suresh (790) will be the reserve singles players for the tie.
Top-ranked Bhambri (ranked 35), and N Sriram Balaji (75) are the doubles players chosen in the squad which will have Rithvik Bollipalli (77) as reserve.
Bhambri had travelled to Pakistan and contributed to the team’s 4-0 win against the host in Islamabad but has not featured in the national team since then.
The tie will be played on the indoor courts, which are likely to be fast. Nagal’s game is best suited for slower courts. Agencies
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