Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri, India’s highest-ranked singles and doubles players, will miss the Davis Cup 2025 World Group I play-off against Togo, slated for February 1-2. The duo have made themselves unavailable due to a disagreement with the administrators. Team India skipper Rohit Rajpal said the duo has complaints with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and hopes to return to action soon.
The Davis Cup team to face Togo consists of five players: Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Karan Singh, N. Sriram Balaji, and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli. Aryah Shah, Chirag Duhan, and Yuvaan Nandal have also joined the squad. They will train with the Indian team, which will provide valuable exposure for each of them. Rajpal emphasised the significance of developing young players while also preparing the team to the best of his ability.
Unfortunately, it was the first time they did not receive much information, both online and otherwise. They mentioned that their analysis team usually examines all players, their future performances, and prior matches to provide data on areas where they are under pressure and their preferred playing zones. However, they stated that such data was unavailable in this case, requiring them to analyze it manually.
Bhambri & Nagal Prioritise Personal Gains Over National Glory
They added that they were waiting for the Togo squad to arrive, after which a few individuals would observe and monitor them closely. Thus far, so good. They arrived early, and the boys were also there. The entire team has arrived, and everything is going smoothly. They asked the lads to practice lots of drills and sets so they could be matched up.
Rohit Rajpal said, “Yuki and Sumit Nagal both have played for the country. They have some grievances with, I think, a couple of people in AITA, which need to be sorted. We are working towards it. But I still believe that you know, from my captain, Vijay Amritraj, our values that we passed on to the generations and that were passed on to me is that, you know, your nation comes first.”
