Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi crisis: It was a double fault from AITA

[1]

So much ill-will has been spilled in public and private over the choice of the tennis doubles pair for the Olympics that I wonder how the team — any team now — would perform at the event. But that is in the realm of conjecture and only one part of the story; the other, perhaps more pertinent, is why things should have come to such a pass.

I hold no brief for either Lee or Hesh. In the context of the Olympics, their moves and machinations have been defined by an unholy mix of one-upmanship, churlishness and opportunism.

The best way to avoid the current imbroglio would have been for these two veterans — who have played together so long, so often and so splendidly — to sort it out between themselves and delivered a final decision to AITA well in advance.

While not doing this was a fault, the All Indian Tennis Association has made it a double fault by malingering over the problem instead of resolving it well in time.

If anything, the culpability of the AITA is greater. They have pandered to the whims of stars and procrastinated over taking a firm call, hoping that everything will resolve by itself. This doesn’t always work.

Sportspersons, like all performing artists, can be hyper–sensitive. Relations suddenly souring between players is hardly rare within a particular sports — including among best friends or best players who make up a team.

Sometimes this is temporary, sometimes it can fester so long as to virtually remove any chance of rapprochement.

In the case of Lee-Hesh, their personal incompatibility is hardly new. This had also led to them going their different ways in the past many years where professional doubles play was concerned — except for the Davis Cup where they’ve been superb.

But even that bond though had begun to lose its glue.With the Olympics looming on the horizon and interpersonal relations between the two so prickly, the AITA should have been on the alert to impending problems and decisive in its game-plan when Lee-Hesh agreed to come together for the Olympics last year.

There were several points at which the AITA could have spelt out its agenda — that they wanted the two to represent India as a team at the Olympics — asked the two stars to come to terms or else.

This would have forestalled all the insidious behind-the-scenes games that were played and their depressing fall-out.

Ideally, the AITA could have come unequivocally clear about their decision at the time that Lee-Hesh reunited. This could have made Leander at least think again before choosing another partner for ATP and Grand Slam tournaments 6-7 months ago.

Or the AITA could have convinced Mahesh that though he was not partnering Leander for these tournaments, the two were still going to be the official Indian entry for at London.

Since it was left open, Leander and Mahesh pursued other options with their respective game-plans to play the Olympics with both settling on Rohan Bopanna as partner.

As things have turned out, the young player, poor chap, has fallen between two stools. And if Mahesh sticks by his decision not to play, it could also mean no wild-card entry for Sania Mirza and him in the mixed doubles.

I think the AITA and selectors got sucked into the melodrama of these two players and foolishly deferred making their call till the 11th hour.

On ranking and current performances, Leander undoubtedly had to be first choice in the doubles team. But who would partner him should have been sealed months ago.

In allowing the Bhupathi-Bopanna pair to play for so many months suggested that another pairing — perhaps two — were possible. This created an environment of intrigue and suspicion which has demeaned just about everybody connected with Indian tennis.

What next? Anger needs to be replaced by a spirit of negotiation. It’s a situation that demands astute diplomacy by someone who has the trust of both Leander and Mahesh.

I don’t know what the nitty-gritty of the solution can be, but I am convinced a solution exists. May be that’s a good point to start from and work backwards.