Davis Cup: India bench No. 1 Sumit Nagal for Croatia tie

Sumit Nagal

In a bold decision, underdogs India on Thursday preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their clash against top seeds Croatia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers beginning here on Friday. The hosts will be led by world number 37 Marin Cilic and the 2014 US Open champion is the only top-50 singles player in their ranks. The absence of their best-ranked player Borna Coric (33rd) means that Indians can go after their second singles player Borna Gojo, who is yet to win a match in the Davis Cup.

Getting two points from Gojo is very much possible for the visitors, considering that he is placed 277th in the ATP rankings, which is below all three Indian singles players. Nagal (127) is India's best-ranked player and he along with Ramumar Ramanathan (182), and Prajnesh (132) is capable of beating Gojo though they have not competed against him yet. Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, while explaining the surprise decision, said that conditions demanded that Ramkumar should play instead of Nagal.

"The courts are medium-paced with low bounce. It is suiting Ramkumar more because Sumit is not getting the bite with his top-spin from back of the court,"
said Rajpal. "It is important to get one point on the opening day, so we made Prajnesh our number one player instead of Sumit. It's a strategy made in the best interest of the team and the nation," he elaborated.

When asked that Ramkumar being taller could struggle in tackling the low bounce, Rajpal said, "His is an all-round game with chip and charge, serve and volley elements. He is more suited, considering the conditions." Prajnesh admitted that the lack of a strong second singles player in the rival line-up could work to India's advantage. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will play the doubles rubber against Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor.

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