Captain Vishal Uppal And His Team Ready For Battle In Tough Billie Jean King Cup Group | Exclusive

Add as a preferred source on Google

The Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Asia-Oceania Group I will get underway in Pune, and Indian team captain Vishal Uppal is optimistic that his side can script history in front of home fans at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Complex.

Drawn into a challenging round-robin group featuring Chinese Taipei, Korea Republic, New Zealand, Thailand and Hong Kong China, the Indian team will need to finish in the top two to advance to the play-offs.

"This is a tough group - every match is going to be a battle," Uppal told myKhel in an exclusive interview. "But we've got the firepower, and playing at home gives us that extra edge. We're going to feed off the crowd's energy."

The Indian squad is a blend of seasoned campaigners and rising stars. World No. 1 from India, Ankita Raina, leads the team alongside Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari, and doubles stalwart Prarthana Thombare. Promising 15-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran joins as the reserve. Radhika Kanitkar Tulpule has been roped in as the team's coach.

India will be eyeing a play-offs berth for the second time in the tournament's history after narrowly missing out on qualification in the last edition. India's best run in the the tournament came in 2020 when, Sania Mirza, who left the team in 2016, made a remarkable comeback and helped India achieve play-offs qualification.

India ended the Asia-Oceania Pool stage second with the four wins out of five matches, but unfortunately, they later lost to Latvia 3-1 in their maiden play-offs match. India will open their campaign against New Zealand on Centre Court on Tuesday (April 8).

INDIAN SQUAD FOR BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

• Players - Ankita Raina, Prarthana Thombare, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (Reserve)
• Captain - Vishal Uppal
• Coach - Radhika Kanitkar Tulpule
• Physios - Rutuja Kulkarni and Apurva Kulkarni