Why AITA dropped Sriram Balaji from India's squad for Netherlands Davis Cup tie?

New Delhi: The All India Tennis Association (AITA) committee on Tuesday dropped N Sriram Balaji for the upcoming Davis Cup match against the Netherlands. Apart from dropping Balaji, which came as a surprise, the other selections were on the expected lines.

The first round qualifiers of the Davis Cup would be played in Bengaluru on February 7 and 8 with star tennis player Sumit Nagal leading India's singles challenge. Meanwhile, the squad also features doubles specialist Yuki Bhambri along with Dhakshineswar Suresh and Karan Singh as the other members.

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Experienced doubles player Sriram Balaji was shockingly left out of the squad despite his good performances in the format for Indian over the years. The AITA decided to leave Balaji out of the squad with the selection committee members opting to look ahead as part of their long-term plan in the sport and especially in the doubles format.

Indian captain Rohit Rajpal shed light on the same saying that the selectors wanted to invest in younger options for better future of the country in the sport.

'The selection committee felt it was time to look ahead. Sriram Balaji has been a very good servant for Indian tennis, but it was felt that he has become a bit soft and we need to groom players who can take the team forward,' Rajpal told news agency PTI.

With the scenario left to discuss now barring Balaji, Yuki will play with Rithvik Bollipalli in the doubles format. Meanwhile, the reserve players named for the contest are Aryan Shah, left-handed Aniruddh Chandrashekhar and Digvijay Singh.

Local hero Prajwal Dev and young player Arnav Paparkar will also be called to the training camp as practice partners.

Squad : Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineswar Suresh, Karan Singh, Yuki Bhambri and Rithvik Bollipalli.

Reserves: Aryan Shah, Anirudh Chandrashekhar and Digvijay Singh.

(With PTI inputs)