India vs Pakistan Davis Cup 2024: Zeeshan Ali Laments Sumit Nagal's Absence

Sumit Nagal had a great beginning in 2024. Although the AITA didn't give him a wild card for the Australian Open, he made it to the main draw with impressive wins in the qualifying rounds.

In the round of 32, he defeated seeded player Alexander Bublik but lost to China's J.C Chang in the pre-quarterfinals.In the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in Islamabad, the Indian team will miss the presence of this champion. Sumit, India's top-ranked singles player, has opted out of the Davis Cup due to personal reasons.

Indian Davis Cup team captain Zeeshan Ali has expressed that the team will dearly miss the formidable presence of Sumit Nagal in the upcoming clash against Pakistan "Obviously, we would have loved to have had them, especially somebody like Sumit, who is playing very, very well, playing probably, some of the best tennis he's played.

"He's a player who knows how to play on grass. It's another matter that he doesn't like playing on grass as much but, it's a surface where if you put in a certain amount of time, you can adapt to it. So we're definitely going to miss Sumit."

Zeeshan Ali also praised Sumit's performance at the Australian Open 2024 "Sumit had a great draw. No doubt, coming through the qualifying rounds is practically like winning a tournament in itself. At the level that they're playing at, the rankings, and it's the top 250 players in the world that are playing, even the qualifying." Zeeshan told NNIS Sports

"Of course, to beat (Alexander) Bublik, nobody expected that and I think he played freely. I don't think anybody expected him to win that match and then he played very, very well." Zeeshan added

The Indian Davis Cup team practiced at the prestigious Gym Khana Club in Delhi, where Zeeshan also spoke about the team's preparation before departing for Pakistan "It's going to be a very tricky tie. Even though we're playing against guys who are not playing on the ATP tour as much as they used to, they're older guys as well but having said that, they have a lot of experience of playing on grass. So and then, we're also at a disadvantage of having to go into a tie where we don't have three out of our top four singles players who are going to be available."

India will also miss the services of India's second-highest singles player, Sasikumar Mukund, as he has also opted out due to personal reasons. The tie against Pakistan is scheduled for 3-4 February.

ZEESHAN ALI REPLACES ROHIT RAJPAL AS INDIA'S CAPTAIN

All India Tennis Association (AITA) has named Indian coach Zeeshan Ali as India's non-playing captain for the Davis Cup team for the upcoming tie against Pakistan. The AITA Secretary General, Anil Dhupar, said that Zeeshan Ali will take over from Rohit Rajpal because Rajpal couldn't go to Pakistan because of a family medical problem.

As quoted by PTI, Dhupar said, "Our non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal couldn't travel with the team due to some personal reasons."

"I am happy to inform that today we have appointed Zeeshan Ali, a very senior player, as the captain of the side. He (Zeeshan) will be the captain for this tie and firmly believe that India would put up a strong performance under his captaincy in Pakistan," he added.