Long-serving Leander Paes was on Thursday dropped for the first time in 27 years from India's Davis Cup squad as non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi picked Rohan Bopanna instead for the tie against Uzbekistan.
The Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie begins at Bengaluru on Thursday.
Bopanna will pair up with Sriram Balaji in the second round doubles tie and lock horns with Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association.
Bopanna is ranked 24th in the world, 29 spots above Olympic medallist and multiple Grand Slam winner Paes (53rd).
Ramkumar Ramanathan will spearhead India's singles challenge in place of injured Yuki Bhambri. Ramanathan will face Temur Ismailov in the first singles rubber of the tie.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who replaced the injured Bhambri, will take on Fayziev in the second singles rubber.
In the reverse singles on Sunday, Ramanathan could face Fayziev and Gunneswaran will be playing the final rubber against Ismailov.
Justifying his decision to pick Bopanna over Paes, Bhupathi said the Bengaluru lad is serving and seeing the ball well and also had a good start to the year.
Paes, who made his Davis Cup debut against Japan in 1990 at Jaipur, has been dropped from the Davis Cup team on form – or the lack of it – for the first time in nearly three decades.
Over the last couple of Davis Cup ties involving India, the focus has been centered around Paes going past Nicola Pietrangeli's record of 42 doubles rubbers' wins.
Bhupathi said it was a tough decision to drop his one-time doubles partner.
Bhupathi said the other players in the team had practised more than Paes.
Asked if Paes stood a chance had he joined earlier, Bhupathi said:
When asked if it was end of the road for Paes, Bhupathi responded in the negative.
Bhupathi said he is not a big believer of having doubles specialists in the Davis Cup team unless they are among the top five in the world.
Asked about his bonding with Balaji, Bopanna said it is better to play with a player with whom he has practised.
Bhupathi sounded optimistic about India's chances.
Asked whether Denis Istomin's absence would be advantageous for India, Bhupathi said it is a big blow for Uzbekistan.
Bhupathi said every captain has his own style and wants to run the team the way he thinks it should be.
About India's chances of getting into the world group, Bhupathi said:
(With inputs from PTI)
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