Last update:02 November 2024, 4:23 p.m. IST

Rajpal, who took charge of the team in 2019 after Mahesh Bhupathi opted not to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, felt there is no need to have a successful career as a as a player to become a good coach.

Rohit Rajpal. (X)

Indian Davis Cup team skipper Rohit Rajpal has defended his position as non-playing captain of the tournament and slammed those who questioned his place in the team.

After India’s 0-4 loss to Sweden in their previous Davis Cup appearance, the 53-year-old had asked the doubters to shut up and he once again clarified his comments.

“I myself follow the Indian tennis community. I’m part of the association, I’m part of so many things. My life has been tennis. I could never even dream of something like that, saying shut up to the Indian community. Why should I do this?,” Rajpal said.

“I would never think of disrespecting someone like that, but I also shouldn’t have reacted even to those three or four guys to be very honest. But the question was asked in such a bad way and that in front of my team sitting next to me, I felt humiliated.”

Rajpal, who took charge of the team in 2019 after Mahesh Bhupathi opted not to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, said he was aware of the people who wanted him to leave, but chose not to reveal their names.

“What I really liked about it is that one person creates a narrative in a bad way and it comes true, and no one even bothers to go back and see the tape, to get into the details,” Rajpal said.

He highlighted the competence of the executive committee in appointing him captain of the team and believed that it is not necessary to have a successful career as a player to become a good coach.

“Whether I deserve to be there or not is not a decision I would want to justify. It depends on the Executive Committee, which is supreme,” he said.

“There are enough people who know tennis there. They have been in sports administration since we were children, so I am sure they make a balanced decision,” Rajpal continued.

“The second area is my players. The day I sense that my players feel that someone else will do a better job, I am the first to step aside myself. I don’t need to be told to go. I am ready to leave even today,” he continued.

Rajpal, who represented India in a David Cup tie against Korea in 1990 and also managed to clinch bronze at the Asian Games in the same year, spoke about his short playing career and the injuries that forced him to abandon professional tennis very early.

“I had to stop because I slipped two discs in my back. Before that, I beat some really good players. I played at the highest level. No one can take it away from me. I am an Asian Games medalist,” he said.

“I am also an Asian champion but I never choose to talk about it because I don’t want to blow my own trumpet,” Rajpal explained.

“I come back from the group of players who always said: let your racket do the talking. Mahesh Bhupati and Somdev, when they were playing, themselves recommended my name and put a condition to AITA for me to be the captain.”

He also felt that his habit of overworking during training had taken a toll on him, as had the lack of support he received during his playing years.

“I had a bad habit when I look back, which cost me my career, was getting up at 5 a.m. and running 20 kilometers on the road,” the 53-year-old said .

“At that time we didn’t have good padded shoes. We had a local shoe that sponsored me. And I ran in this shoe seven days a week. Every day of my life, I ran 20 kilometers on the road to build my endurance,” he added.

“And then obviously, I’m a good example, as my coaches say, of what I didn’t know how to stop. I only stopped when it was dark. I only believed that hard work would get me through,” Rajpal said.

He also reflected on his matchups against some high quality players including Tim Henman, Harry Hoffman and Wayne Ferrera back in the day.

“I had the chance to train in Sweden and with Harry Hoffman in Tampa, Florida. I was training with Jim Courier at that time and he was a hitter. And after a busy day, he would leave and I would practice for another two hours after he left, to become better than him,” the Indian skipper said.

“I trained too much. And that’s how my career ended very quickly. At 19, 20 years old, I was already a guy with two herniated discs in my back and a very bad left leg. Wayne Ferrera, when I played him, he was ATP world number 11. It was a close game.”

“Tim Henman, again, a top player and I don’t need to tell you his credentials. It was a very close match, I lost in the tie-break of the third set,” he remembers.

“And I don’t blame some people for not being able to know these things. Like I told you, people don’t do research anymore. People no longer look at things in depth. People only look at things from the surface, right? And that’s a sad part.”

“I’m not trying to justify, you know, or blow the trumpet. But I played at a world-class level myself. And nothing, no one can take that away from me,” he concluded.