"I can never dream about saying ‘shut up’ to the Indian tennis community" - Rohit Rajpal
Former Indian tennis player Rohit Rajpal opened up on his ‘shut up’ remark that hogged the headlines earlier this year. Back in September, India slumped to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden in the Davis Cup 2024 World Group tie in Stockholm.
After India lost the tie, Rajpal, the non-playing captain, was asked if India would have done better had the likes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, or Somdev Devvarman led them. Rajpal lashed out, saying that he fulfilled his national duties when his mother was in the ICU during the tie against Pakistan and asked his detractors to 'shut up'.
In his earlier press conference remark, Rajpal said he would never dream about demeaning the Indian tennis community.
“I would say 40 percent of the stadium was full of Indians and I felt actually humiliated sitting on that chair and I could not look at them in their eyes. Unfortunately, we could not do what we were supposed to do. I am myself in the Indian tennis community. I have so many friends in tennis," Rajpal told PTI in an interview.
“I can never even dream about something like this to say ‘shut up’ to the Indian tennis community. Why would I do that?” he added.
"Not a decision I would like to take or justify" - Rohit Rajpal on whether he should stay captain or not
For the tie against Sweden, India did not have Rohan Bopanna, who had retired from Indian tennis after the Paris Olympics, and Sumit Nagal. N Sriram Balaji, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Siddartha Vishwakarma could not secure a single victory for India.
Rajpal said that it’s up to the top officials to take a call on whether he should stay as captain or not.
“Whether I deserve to be there or not deserved to be there frankly it is not a decision I would like to justify or take. That is in the hands of the executive committee, which is supreme and there are enough people who know tennis there. They have been there in sports administration for since we were kids,” Rajpal said in the same interview.
Last year, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced that Rohit Rajpal would remain India’s Davis Cup captain until 2024.