Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj would have a golden opportunity to prove that they have it in them to take on the mantle from Leander Paes as India look to maintain their cent per cent head-to-head record against China in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I tie beginning in New Delhi on Friday.
The two rookies were pressed into singles service by Indian team captain Paes -- who for the first time in over a decade would not feature on the opening day of the Davis cup tie despite being a member of the squad -- against the Chinese on the grass court of the R K Khanna Stadium.
According to the draw made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence this morning, Harsh would launch the Indian challenge against top Chinese player Sun Peng while Prakash, the son of legendary Vijay Amritraj, would be seen in action against Wang Yu in the second tie of the day.
The top Indian doubles pair of Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi would face Yu and Zhu Ben-Qiang in the doubles rubber on Saturday while the two top players in the singles will meet each other in the first reverse singles on Sunday.
Though according to the current ATP ranking, Harsh is the top Indian player, Prakash would hold that position in the Davis Cup tie since the rankings as on February 21 were taken into consideration, Match Referee Nao Kawatei said.
India have won both the earlier ties against China -- the first at Kolkata in 1999 and the second in near freezing conditions in Beijing in 2001. The winner of this tie will play either Indonesia or Uzbekistan in the next round for a place in the World Group play-off.
India are touted to be favourties on grass for the tie as the Chinese have very little experience of playing on this surface and Paes believes that it would still be the case though two new players, who have not played a single tie at home on grass so far, have been pressed into singles service.
"I have immense confidence in my team. Harsh is on a high after his win in the satellite circuit and Prakash's game is tailor-made for grass and they can give us a 2-0 lead on the first day so that Mahesh and I can finish the tie on Saturday," Paes said.
Asked whether his decision to opt out of the singles was a gamble, Paes replied in the negative and said both the players deserved their place.
"The urge to play myself was tremendous as this is the stage I thrive on. But as a captain I had to field the best team and both of them deserved their place in the singles.
"Though I can come to play on the final day if needed, we hope that we will finish the tie on the second day itself," Paes added.
Bhupathi also felt that this was a great opportunity for the duo to answer the big question "who next after Leander?"
"Everyone is looking for someone to come ahead and answer the question as to who next after Leander? These guys have a great opportunity to put forward their credentials."
Both Harsh and Prakash were upbeat about their chances and said they would be putting their best foot forward.
"It is going to be a challenge as I am going to play at home for the first time. I know the expectations will be very high. Though grass is not my favourite surface, I have played on it and I have my strengths which I need to bring to the fore tomorrow," Harsh said.
Prakash was also looking forward to play at home and said he has matured enough to take the pressure of expectations.
The only worry for the Indian supporters, however, would be the dismal past record of both the players in Davis Cup with Prakash not being able to win a single match out of the four he has played so far. Harsh also has not won any live rubber in his three wins in 13 appearances.
Though, Leander's decision to opt out of the singles could be seen as a gamble for the Indians, the Chinese tried to play down the issue saying it was "expected".
"Leander has not been playing singles of late and these two guys have a far better singles ranking. We are not at all surprised with the Indian decision as it was expected," their non-playing captain Zhao Xie said.
The top Chinese player, Sun, said he was looking forward to giving his team a winning start as his opponent Harsh was also predominantly a hard court player and so both of them would start on an equal footing.
"Though none of us have faced each other so far our fourth team member Lu Hao had defeated Prakash last year back home and this gives us confidence to turn the tables on the Indians," Yu said, when asked about their chances in the tie.
Draw:
Friday: Harsh Mankad vs Sun Peng, Prakash Amritraj vs Wang Yu
Saturday: Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes vs Wang Yu/Zhu Ben-Qiang
Sunday: Harsh Mankad vs Wang Yu, Prakash Amritraj vs Sun Peng.
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