Indian Davis Cup team warms up for the challenge

Siddharth Vishwakarma and Aryan Shah prepare for the tie against Sweden, showcasing their unique playing styles.

They may not have an intimidating presence on court, but Siddharth Vishwakarma and Aryan Shah can be menacing in their own different ways.

Both Siddharth and Aryan had a good work out under the guidance of coach Ashutosh Singh at the DLTA on Thursday as they prepared in earnest for the Davis Cup World Group tie to be played on indoor hard courts in Stockholm on September 14 and 15.

The wiry Siddharth, the reigning national champion, can really whip the ball both with his serve and strokes. He does play an entertaining brand of tennis. On the other hand, the young Aryan, who had lived up to his early ambition of competing in all four Grand Slams in the junior events, has been learning fast on the pro circuit around the world.

Coach Ashutosh said the rest of the team -- Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sriram Balaji, Niki Poonacha and Manas Dhamne -- would assemble directly in Stockholm from different tournaments.

The Indian team is scheduled to leave in the early hours of Saturday in an attempt to get enough time to acclimatise and play the best tennis in the tie against Sweden, which for once looks beatable.

Even without the services of the No. 1 player, the 73rd ranked Sumit Nagal, India could have a memorably competitive tie as Sweden does not have any player in the top-200 of singles.

Aryan, who keeps a tab on all the players he watches in the circuit, said that he had not seen the 225th ranked Elias Ymer, Sweden’s No. 1 player.