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Paes to arrive for Davis Cup on Wednesday
New Delhi: Indian tennis ace Leander Paes, who won the US Open mixed doubles title with Swiss Martina Hingis last week, will arrive here in the national capital on Wednesday morning to take part in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff against the Czech Republic this weekend.
The rest of the squad comprising Yuki Bhambri, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna is already here, preparing for the September 18-20 clash which, if they win, will elevate the team to the World Group in 2016.
“Leander is getting here tomorrow morning. He finished in New York only on Sunday; he had to address the press and stuff like that so he is getting here as soon as he can. My suggestion to him was to come on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning,” India’s Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj said at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Assocation (DLTA) Complex here on Tuesday.
“We have been waiting for his arrival. In the meantime, the others are getting as much practice as possible on the centre court as singles is a huge part of the tie, so that they get their time on the court.”
The non-playing captain added that when Paes arrives, he will try and get as much time on the DLTA courts as possible to prepare for the contest.
“When Leander comes, he can work out in the afternoon. The centre court is slightly different from the outside courts. So there is no point hitting on a court that is a lot faster. We will try and maximise our 3-4 hours on the centre court so when he comes, he is going to get used to it,” said the 63-year-old.
Paes had missed India’s previous Davis Cup encounter against New Zealand in the Group 1 Asia/Oceania second round. But the 42-year-old is making a comeback.
“Our team is a little bit stronger with Leander and Rohan in the doubles. They have the ‘scare factor’,” added Amritraj.
The World No.1 Czechs have never lost to India in three meetings, although their last tie was back in 1997. Czech Republic have won the Davis Cup twice in 2012 and 2013 and once as Czechoslovakia in 1980.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.