Prakash Amritraj, who was once the country’s highest-ranked singles player, has urged the Indian Davis Cup squad members to keep their egos aside and play as a unit when they take on Denmark on the grass courts of the Delhi Gymkhana Club on March 4 and 5.
Prakash, the son of Vijay Amritraj, said “special things” will happen when players put the country’s interest first.
“It’s important to realise that it’s not about them, and that it’s about something much greater than them and when one understands that, it allows the person to take the ego out, and that’s when special things happen. They (players) are a part of history and a part of all the names on the walls that came before, giving them the opportunity to be there today. All of a sudden, you bring more out of yourself than you ever thought you had,” said Amritraj.
Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna will complete India’s five-member line-up for the World Group play-off tie against Denmark. For the visitors, World No. 97 Rune is the highest-ranked player in the team. The winner of the two-day rubber will progress to World Group I ties later this year.
Prakash said the hosts will have their task cut out against Denmark, since the visitors boast of several highly-rated players. “The Danish team has a lot of highly-rated players. We will have our task cut out against them, even though I think we will start as favourites.”
