Davis Cup: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal spearhead India's challenge in Group II tie against Morocco

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Veteran doubles ace Rohan Bopanna and India's top men's singles player Sumit Nagal headline the six-member Indian tennis team at the Davis Cup 2023 World Group II tie against Morocco, scheduled from September 16 to 17 in Lucknow.

Sasikumar Mukund, Digvijay Pratap Singh, Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan are the other four Indian tennis players in the squad for the match against Morocco.

Bopanna, currently ranked 9th in the world in men's doubles, has been in excellent form this year, securing victories at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Masters. The Indian ace revealed last month that the Morocco tie will be his career’s final Davis Cup appearance.

Nagal, who endured a difficult time in the last couple of years with injury, has also shot up the rankings after winning ATP Challenger titles in Rome and Tampere this season.

Former player Rohit Rajpal will continue as the non-playing captain of while Zeeshan Ali will be the coach.

In addition, the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) has also named five more players -- Saketh Myneni, Manas Dhamne, Manish Sureshkumar, Karan Singh and Yuvan Nandal -- who will be with the squad to provide the core group with some valuable practice matches.

India lost 3-2 to Denmark in the Davis Cup 2023 World Group I play-offs in February and was relegated to the Group II stage for the first time since the new Davis Cup format was implemented in 2019.

A total of 24 national teams will compete in World Group II ties. The 12 winners will progress to World Group I playoffs while the losing team will drop to World Group II playoffs.

India's best performances at the Davis Cup came in 1966, 1974 and 1987, when they finished as the runners-up.

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