Mankad to play Neilson in first singles

Harsh Mankad has been drawn to play India's opening match against Mark Neilson of New Zealand in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group I second round rubber in Wellington on Friday.

According to the draw for the contest, India's number one Leander Paes will play Alistair Hunt in the second singles.

The estranged doubles pair of Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will take on the inexperienced New Zealand combination of Daniel Willman and James Shortall on Saturday while the reverse singles will be played on Sunday.

Mankad, who registered his first Davis Cup singles victory in the first round tie against Lebanon earlier this year, has been pitted against New Zealand's number one player in the first singles but India's non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan was not too perturbed.

"In a way, it is good that Mankad is playing the first singles. He should also have a feel of the pressure," said Krishnan while praising the youngster for the improvement he has shown.

"This will be a better test for him. The players here (in New Zealand) are a bit more competitive and Mankad also has gained some experience having spent two years on the Davis Cup circuit now," he said.

Krishnan asserted that Paes and Bhupathi, who split as regular doubles partners for the second time last month, are in the right frame of mind and concentrating on the task ahead.

Meanwhile, as final preparations were under way at the Wellington Renouf Tennis Centre for the match, the players expressed relief over the high winds, which the city experienced over the past week, settling down.

It is the fourth time that New Zealand are playing India. The first match was played in 1975 and the team of Brian Fairlie, Onny Parun and Jeff Simpson defeated the Indians 3-1. In 1976, the same team plus Russell Simpson won 3-2 and in 1978 the same team defeated India 4-1. This week's tie will be a tough encounter as the Indian doubles combination of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati were the worlds top doubles in 1999.