Time for change of guard: Mahesh Bhupati

Chennai: In more ways than one, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are like chalk and cheese. When it comes to interacting with the media, Bhupathi is a man of few words and sometimes, his answers come in monosyllables. “I don’t know what I am doing,” was Bhupathi’s response to a query if he was warming down slowly before calling it a day. It required further probing. “Let’s see what happens and how it happens. But when I call it a day, you (media) will be the first to know,” said Bhupathi, with a hint of a smile.

The 40-year-old played in just three tournaments last year and his ranking plummeted to world No. 336. He needed a wild card to compete in the Chennai Open where he joined hands with Saketh Myneni for a make shift partnership. “For the Australia Open, I will play with Jurgen Melzer (Austria). I haven’t really made plans after that. I might play the Dubai Open, but it depends on how my body responds to coming back on tour.”

Since he started slowing down on Tour, Bhupathi’s focus has been on his brainchild  the International Premier Tennis League. Bhupathi, who last played a David Cup tie in 2011, said he was not keen on getting a farewell and India needed to look beyond Paes and himself when it comes to picking the team for Asia-Oceania zone matches.

“If the Aita calls me and says this would be your farewell tie, I would be shocked. Right now, what India needs is a young team. There are some youngsters who are breaking through. Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh are playing some good tennis. Rohan is a lot younger than Leander and I. Now they are the strong backbone of the team. “For zonal ties, they have to leave me and Paes aside. If they keep talking about us, a young team will never be built,” he said.