NEW DELHI: Acting on expected lines, the Union government has given in-principle approval for the Indian Davis Cup team to travel to Pakistan later this year.
The two-day, three-match tie, to be held in Islamabad in September, will decide which team will qualify for the Davis Cup qualifiers slated for early next year.
“I have heard that (permission to apply for visas to play the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie), yes,” An All India Tennis Association (AITA) official confirmed to New Indian Express.
The process for applying for visas, though, will only start after the AITA pick the squad and support staff.
That process, though, may not start for at least a week as the official explained. “There is going to be an AITA meeting next week and a few decisions could be taken there.”
Those decisions could pertain to the identity of the support staff - including the captain and coach - making the trip to Islamabad, the daily further reports.
On paper, Mahesh Bhupathi and Zeeshan Ali are the captain and coach respectively but the home tie against Italy in February was supposed to be their last with the team as their contracts were expiring.
- Log in to post comments