Yuki doubtful for Davis Cup tie against Korea after leg strain

India’s Yuki Bhambri is a doubtful starter for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Korea in Seoul after suffering a strain in his right leg during practice ahead of his US Open main draw match, a development termed as a huge setback by skipper Rohit Rajpal.

Bhambri did not travel to Seoul with the first batch of Indian players that left on Thursday night, adding uncertainty over his availability for the crucial tie, where the winner will seal a place in the elite eight-team Davis Cup Finals. The 32-year-old termed the injury a minor strain and assured that there was no threat to his Asian Games participation later this month.

“This (strain) happened before the main draw match during practice. This is a minor strain. There is no timeline set for my recovery, but there is nothing major,” Bhambri told PTI. Bhambri is being monitored on a day-to-day basis and is consulting the Indian Davis Cup team support staff, including Debashish Das and Yash Pandey, to assess his recovery.

“There is still pain. It’s a day-by-day situation; we will see how it goes,” he said. Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal told PTI from Seoul that Bhambri’s ill-timed injury has certainly impacted their preparations.

“We are working on it; hopefully he should recover. It certainly is a huge setback. He is a great combination with DK (Dhakshineswar). Yuki is by far our number one doubles player.

“His injury means we are starting afresh now. Combinations will depend on how quickly Yuki recovers and how the first day goes for us. The Koreans already have the advantage of playing at home,” said Rajpal.

The injury, though, is not expected to jeopardise Bhambri’s participation in the Asian Games. “I am competing in the Asian Games one hundred per cent. We will see if we can recover for Davis Cup,” he said.

In case Bhambri is unable to recover in time, India could explore alternative combinations in doubles, with N Sriram Balaji (India number 2 in doubles) and singles specialist Dhakshineswar a possible combination among the options.

Siddharth Rawat and Arnav Paparkar are reserve players in the squad, but they are singles players.

According to AITA sources, left-handed Anirudh Chandrasekar, India number four in doubles, has already been asked to link up with the squad in Seoul as per captain Rajpal’s request. He already has a Korea visa.

AITA has also applied for a visa for Niki Poonacha, India number three in doubles.

“We are good enough to beat Korea in doubles, and there is no dearth of doubles options in India,” said Bhambri.