CHENNAI: For 30 minutes, India believed. And the crowd at South Club in Kolkata believed with them. The small-but-partisan gathering was making an incredible din, and they were entitled to do so. Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna engineered a turnaround after losing the first set, dragging their Davis Cup qualifier tie against Italy to a fourth rubber. After the hosts won the third rubber 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, it was game on. Or so they thought. 

Italy, who had quietened the crowd pretty soon on the opening day, repeated their party trick effectively. Andreas Seppi got the better off Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-1, 6-4 to seal the tie. India, who had visions of qualifying for the inaugural Davis Cup Finals in Madrid in November, will have to be content with playing an Asia/Oceania Group I tie in September to again have a crack at maki­ng it back with the elite in 2020. 

Even if the result in itself was disappointing, captain Mahesh Bhupathi expressed hope for a better tomorrow. “It is disappointing for the whole team. I took on the job knowing the kind of depth we had. It was significant that I could work with them at different stages. I feel there is a lot of untapped potential.”

But the 44-year-old was quick to temper that thought by reminding everyone about the gulf in class between India’s singles players and the creme de la creme. “I think everybody needs to live in the real world. The Madrid field (Davis Cup Finals) will be finalised this evening. If you look at it, I don’t think there will be any team there without a player in the top-100. This is one of the most global sports, played by 190 countries. Our boys are only working (to get there). Ram (Ramkumar Ramanathan) is up from where he was. Yuki (Bhambri) is getting back (from injury). Prajnesh was in the 300s and now nearing 100. Once we get a fully fit squad, we can challenge.”

Bhupathi future unclear

Meanwhile, All India Tennis Association (AITA) hasn’t decided if it will renew Bhupathi’s contract. The captain’s tenure ended with this tie. Word had been doing the rounds that AITA considered bringing Anand Amritraj back into the fold as captain, but the body dismissed that suggestion out of hand. “To be frank, we haven’t really started talking about it,” AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee told this newspaper. “I assume it’s a conversation we will have during our executive committee meeting.”

But Chatterjee had no personal objections to the 44-year-old continuing as skipper. “I think we lost to a superior side today, and there is no shame in that. They have higher-ranked players than us. From a personal standpoint, we have a good bunch of boys coming up and it would be good if they can all develop (as a group) without us changing the captain.”

One thing that AITA has going for them is that the next Indian tie will only be in September (Asia-Oceania Group I), so they need not be rushed into making a decision. Interestingly enough, the former doubles World No 1 said he would continue to engage with his wards. “I will continue to engage and give my feedback,” Bhupathi said. “All of them have their own teams, but they all like engaging. I think they respect me enough to take inputs, and it will continue.”    

Saturday’s results: Italy bt India 3-1 (Rohan Bopanna/Divij Sharan bt Matteo Berretini/Simone Bolelli 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Andreas Seppi bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-1, 6-4). Other qualifiers: Australia bt Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan bt Portugal, Germany bt Hungary, Japan bt China PR.