'Indian Express' derails, Mahesh and Bopanna have their way

21 June, 2012

The AITA has announced the Indian doubles team for the London Olympics 2012. Leander will partner Vishnu Vardhan, while Mahesh Bhupathi, as he wanted, would play alongside Rohan Bopanna.

THE ONGOING drama of Indian Tennis is over. The AITA has finally announced that India would be sending two teams for London Olympics 2012. Leander and Vishnu Vardhan will make up one team, while the other team will comprise of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna. Things have turned up exactly as Mahesh wanted and what Leander did not want. The Bhupathi camp must be a happier lot now after AITA's decision. But was the AITA right in their decision-making?

Initially, the AITA was very reluctant to send two teams for London Olympics, but they did not have any option left with both Mahesh and Rohan not wanting Leander as their partner for the London Olympics. The AITA had even threatened to impose a fine on Bhupathi for rejecting Paes as a partner.

The teams that have been announced clearly show that AITA was not strong enough to force the players in partnering Leander. It was Leander who in spite of being the top ranked Indian has to play alongside a player, who does not even feature in the top 200 rankings. It is unfair for Leander. Though, nothing has been heard form Leander after the new team announcement, but it would not be surprising if Leander opts out of the Olympics, as promised. Those who know Leander will definitely say that Leander is not going to withdraw from the Olympics, as he has always put the nation before himself. But this time, he must also be hurt more than ever. So anything is possible.

Now, there will be huge pressure on the Rohan and Mahesh pair to win a medal in the Olympics. Rohan and Bopanna have shown great unity off court by rejecting Leander as their partner. They need to show this unity, while representing the nation during the Olympics. These players have brought Indian Tennis into bad light, so there is only one way of erasing these memories - by winning a medal in London Olympics 2012. If not, the pair would come under lot of criticism from all quarters of the sport and the media.