Bhupathi was badly treated: Mukerjea

Former Davis Cup captain Jaidip Mukerjea is unhappy with the way the All India Tennis Association handled the issue of selecting the team for India's Asia/Oceania Group 1 match versus Pakistan to be held on November 29-30.

The AITA unceremoniously removed the non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi and on Thursday named an eight-member team with veteran Leander Paes making a comeback since his history-creating doubles win during their tie against China in April 2018.

Bhupathi and some senior players had refused to travel to Pakistan before the International Tennis Federation (ITF) shifted the tie out of Islamabad to a neutral venue.

"I think Bhupathi was badly treated. They should have asked him to leave earlier itself, could've been communicated properly. It leaves a bad taste for Indian tennis," Mukerjea said on the sidelines of the announcement of the fourth edition of Premjit Lall Invitational Tennis Tournament.

"AITA has done what it thought was best. Safety and security for our ...