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Indian team to be picked on March 16

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The Indian team for the Billie Jean King Cup World Group play-off tie against Latvia will be selected on Tuesday.

The selection committee is also scheduled to finalise the coach for the tie, which will be played on indoor hard courts at the National tennis centre, Lielupe, Jurmala in Latvia, on April 16 and 17.

Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko is expected to spearhead the Latvia team.

A former World No. 11, US Open semifinalist, and ranked 55 in the world now, Anastasija Sevastova beat Serena Williams in Latvia’s last Billie Jean King Cup tie. US won the decisive doubles and edged Latvia out 3-2.

The 12 teams that made the finals could not compete last year owing to the pandemic.

India qualified for the World Group play-off for the first time in the Cup (earlier known as Fed Cup) history, by finishing second in the Asia-Oceania group behind China.

Ankita Raina, Sania Mirza and Rutuja Bhosale combined well last year in Dubai, and helped the team beat Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Korea.

Vishaal Uppal was the captain of the team.

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