India never wanted to come to Pakistan for Davis Cup: Hameed

KARACHI: Former Davis Cup captain Hameed-ul-Haq has said that India never wanted to send its team to Pakistan for the Davis Cup tie.

International Tennis Federation had postponed the tie scheduled for September 14 and 15 on the request of India after its relations with Pakistan became more strained following the former’s move of revoking occupied Kashmir’s special status.

“The Indian tennis authorities told Pakistan Tennis Federation that they were excited about the tie scheduled in Islamabad,” said Hameed while talking to ‘The News’ on Wednesday. “But they never provided the PTF or the Foreign Office with the list of people who were to visit Pakistan despite many reminders. This clearly shows that they never wanted to come to Pakistan for the tie,” he added.

Hameed said that Indian Tennis Federation President Anil Kumar Khanna during his visit to Pakistan claimed that he would help bring the Davis Cup to Pakistan. “These are clearly double standards,” he said.

“ITF will now decide on the 9th of this month whether the tie would be held on a neutral venue or on Pakistan’s soil,” added Hameed. Pakistan has got seven walkovers in the history of Davis Cup.

Hameed said there was a possibility that the ITF would order the tie to be held behind closed doors. “This has happened before in 1987 in New Delhi when India competed against Israel. Only players, officials and security personnel were present during the tie. I feel the same can also happen in Pakistan,” he concluded.