New Delhi: Former Indian tennis player Anand Amritraj has said that he finds it ridiculous that the top Indian players have shirked from representing India at the Davis Cup. The former skipper has further said that money or any other reason should not be a factor to stop a player from playing for his or country.
This comes after country’s best ranked singles player Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri did not make themselves available for the World Group I play-off stage. India are taking on Togo from Saturday and both the players have opted out. Bhambri is now the country’s best doubles player and still did not participate in the World Group I play-off stage.
My generation played for the flag: Anand
Anand, who captained India for five years and enjoyed a good success, said for his generation playing for the flag was a different emotion altogether and it can hardly be found in today’s time.
“To me, to Vijay, to Ramesh, it was a huge honour to play for the country. Whether you got paid or not, we didn’t get paid. We were just doing it because we enjoyed playing Davis Cup. It was the highlight of our year whether we played South Club in Calcutta, DLTA in Delhi or any place in Chennai or Pune where we played some matches,” Amritraj told news agency PTI in an interview.
The veteran player further said that he does not understand if a player has got the other 50 weeks in the year to make money then why does not he participate in such events. The former tennis player also highlighted that nowadays, players get 100 times more than what the veterans used to get. He further highlighted the fact that if a player is not inured, he or she should play. It’s ridiculous that people would not play for whatever reason. No matter what, no matter who’s in the federation, no matter who’s captain or whatever, you should definitely play for the country.
Anand, who captained India for five years and enjoyed a good success, said for his generation playing for the flag was a different emotion altogether and it can hardly be found in today’s time. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
