Bhupathi's conduct unbecoming of a Davis Cup captain: Paes
Following Mahesh Bhupathi leaking a Whatsapp conversation between him and Leander Paes, the latter has said Bhupathi's conduct is "unbecoming of a Davis Cup captain". "I can give a detailed rebuttal pointing out how one-sided and convoluted his arguments are. Fans just have to examine who won what for our country. Talk is cheap, history books don't lie," he said.
Indian tennis great Leander Paes on Sunday slammed India's non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi after a private conversation between the two was made public.CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEOText exchanges between Bhupathi and Paes showed that Paes' claims of him guaranteed a place in the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan was false.The messages showed that Bhupati always kept Paes in the loop about his selection for the tie and they were in touch all the time. The non-playing captain also said that he stands by his decision to leave out his former partner from the tie that India won 4-1. (Also read: Never communicated to  Paes he was in the scheme of things for Davis Cup: Bhupathi to India Today)Bhupathi later hit out at Paes for lying to the press."At no point did I ever communicate to Leander that he was in the scheme of things to play. I even have a WhatsApp conversation to show to you where I had specifically told him that he was in the reserves and only if he wanted to come should he come knowing that he wasn't in my scheme for the final four. This was as early as March 5. He, to his credit, suggested that he would definitely come and contribute to try and take India back to the world group even if he was in the reserves," Bhupathi told India Today in an exclusive chat. (Also read: Exclusive: Leander Paes' claim falls flat, text messages show he was not guaranteed Davis Cup berth)However, the 43-year-old Olympian bronze medallist released a press statement clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with the selection criteria."In response to the speculation in the media on account of the leaked WhatsApp conversation between Mahesh Bhupathi and me, I have the following assertions"1. The main criteria for selection was form. That's clearly mentioned in the exchange. This was not followed when it came to final selection.2. I was never categorically told that I would not be playing. But it was apparent that the decision was made before I arrived in Bengaluru. This is what I found unnecessary and disrespectful.