Leander Paes and Prakash Amritraj are past the stage-managed embraces and everything-is-fine-between-us smiles.

With Rohan Bopanna and Amritraj junior e-mailing the document of revolt against captain Paes, the secret that something is wrong with the Davis Cup team was out. The All India Tennis Association's intervention merely reaffirmed the status quo, Paes was the leader and Amritraj-Bopanna, India's number one and two players respectively, had to toe the line "for the best interests of the team."

Now both parties know where they stand and that they have to live with each other. That was the professional coolness on display when Paes practised with the Indian team for the first time since the fall-out, in the run-up to the Davis Cup tie against Japan, to be held in New Delhi from April 11 to 13. Paes only spoke with Bopanna and Amritraj when required, while the captain bonded well with another 'Bombay Boy' Harsh Mankad.

Text: Deepti Patwardhan in New Delhi

Photographs: Getty Images

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