KARACHI: Aisamul Haq Qureshi’s absence will not hurt Pakistan’s chances in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Round II tie against Philippines, according to the team’s coach and non-playing captain Mohammad Khalid Siddiq.
Aisam has been forced out of the tie due to injury and has been replaced by Jalil Khan for the tie that starts from April 6 in Manila.
“Our victory doesn’t depend on Aisam,” Siddiq told The Express Tribune. “I know that Aisam has the best Davis Cup record in the squad but this doesn’t mean you underestimate the juniors. Aqeel Khan, however, will suffer because he has been playing doubles with Aisam for the last 12 years.
“Despite everything, there’s a silver lining here. We finally get to see new faces represent Pakistan. Even Philippines is testing new players so it’ll be a battle of the young guns.”
Siddiq also emphasised that the team needed encouragement and that the Pakistan Tennis Federation stopped depending on Aisam only. He added that Jalil, Yasir Khan and Mohammad Abid were capable players and the team had a very good chance of winning the tie.
“We’d be really worried if Philippines had the same players they had last year but it’s a different story now.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2012.
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