I'm playing for the Indian flag: Leander Paes

"My availability for the Davis Cup has never been in doubt. I'm playing for the flag and for the people of India," Paes told u00a0MiD DAY from Melbourne yesterday, where he is preparing for the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open. The 39-year-old six-time Olympian and former India Davis Cup skipper will partner World No 4 Czech Radek Stepanek at Melbourne Park.u00a0

Tears of joy: India's Davis Cup skipper Leander Paes celebrates after beating Pakistan's Aqeel Khan in the final singles rubber to clinch the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I tie at CCI in April 2006. Pic/AFP

The AITA yesterday picked, besides Paes of course, VM Ranjeet, Vijayant Malik and Purav Raja - all of whom will be making their Davis Cup debut.
World No 3 doubles player Paes will team up with World No 155 Raja for the doubles rubber, while Ashwin Vijayaraghavan and Arjun Khade have been named as reserves for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie against South Korea.

When asked what he thought of partnering rookie Raja for the doubles rubber, the 13-time Grand Slam winner shot back: "This hasn't happened to me for the first time, has it?" in obvious reference to last year's London Olympics, where he was forced to play with rookie Vishnu Vardhan in the men's doubles event after both Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna refused to partner him claiming they were a pair themselves.u00a0