LEANDER Paes will lead the Indian Davis Cup team in their Asia Oceania Zone Group One tie against Hong Kong next month.
Paes, who was beaten in the first round of the Australian Open yesterday, will spearhead a young but strong four-man squad for the February 3-5 tie in Calcutta.
He will be joined by Mahesh Bhupathi, Gaurav Natekar and Asif Ismail.
Paes lost 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) to Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev in only his second Grand Slam event.
Thorsten Poelzl could end up as the territory's top player against India ahead of Sven Koehler. Poelzl, 19, has been playing regularly on Europe's Association of Tennis Professionals circuit over the past year.
Koehler has been playing on the American college circuit and would not have gained a ranking.
