Mahesh Bhupathi will not
play in the Olympics again. He made this statement after his miserable
performance, along with his handpicked partner Rohan Bopanna, in the 2nd
round of the London Games. It was the second time in a month that this team
lost poorly at Wimbledon. The first was at the
All England Championships.
While making the exit statement,
Bhupathi was still assuming the selector’s role. He said he would be on the
stands rooting for Bopanna, his partner, at the next Olympiad. That means
Bopanna is already in the Indian tennis team for the 2016 Olympics. I suppose
Bhupathi will announce the second player in due course.
Normally, the team selection
should be the responsibility of the All India Tennis Federation (AITF). But
Bhupathi and a couple of politicians made this organization ineffectual and
really a laughing stock. As a result, instead of the potential medal winning
combination of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, which AITF originally chose, India ended up
sending what could be possibly its third-string team for the Olympic laurels. I
am making this statement after watching Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan play so
brilliantly against the 2nd seeded French pair of Tsonga and Llorda
yesterday.
The tampering with team
selection was not in the nation’s interest. It was purely personal. What
problem exists between Bhupathi and Paes is not known. But that should have
been sidelined in the best interest of the country. Paes was willing to play
with Bhupathi or anyone else. But the latter decided to play only with Bopanna.
And he had his way, which led to an inglorious exit.
There were reports about
Bhupathi protesting against Leander being chosen to partner Sania Mirza at the
Dhoha Asian Games in 2006. But that team won the Gold Medal. Though they have
not played together for a long time, their performance yesterday against
Zimonjic and Ivanovic of Serbia was almost mixed doubles tennis at its best.
We don’t know who is behind
the problem, but it is said there have been moves against Paes once he reached an
enviable stature in world tennis that he still maintains and also when he
became the Captain of the Indian Davis Cup team. Even a non-national who was
imported to play for India
in Davis Cup (he was packed off after a while) seemed to have been against
Paes.
Maybe there is something
wrong with this Indian hero with regard to interpersonal relations. But if that
were so, it would have been unlikely for him to have gained the eminence he
enjoys in world tennis. It seems that Paes has partnered 67 players in men’s
doubles. This can mean two things. One is that he cannot get on with his
partners. The other is that he can adjust his game to that of different
partners and keep on winning laurels.
Let me conclude with quoting
Vishnu Vardhan’s statement after his remarkable performance yesterday against
the French (as reported by The Hindu). “Leander is a huge inspiration for
me… I am happy and fortunate that I play in the era of Leander.”
■
Related post:
