I Never Disrespect Tennis Community, I Am Part Of It: Rohit Rajpal

India's n-playing Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal on Saturday clarified that his "shut-up" remark was meant for a few "nda-driven" people consistently targeting him and was t directed at country's tennis community as has been projected.

In a free-wheeling interview with PTI, Rajpal said that people questioning his credentials as Davis Cup captain should do a bit of research and he is t someone who would cling to position in face of resistance from players.

He asserted that it is t necessary that only an accomplished player can become a good coach and guarantee success of national team. To drive his point, he said extremely successful players did t boast reputed names in ir support staff.

Rajpal, who is largely a n-controversial person, courted controversy after India lost 0-4 to Sweden in previous Davis Cup tie in Stockholm when he told his critics to "shut up".

54-year-old Rajpal admitted that he should t have reacted after being provoked during media interaction. Rajpal said his sharp reaction was an outcome of frustration he felt after defeat in front of a good number of Indian supporters.

"I am myself Indian tennis community. I'm part of association, I'm part of so many things. My life has been tennis. I can never even dream of something like this, to say shut up to Indian community. Why would I do that?," Rajpal said during his visit to PTI Headquarters in Delhi.

"I would never think of disrespecting somebody like that, but I should have also t reacted to even those three or four guys to be very honest. But question was asked in such a bad manner and that also in front of my team sitting next to me I felt humiliated." Rajpal said he kws people who want him out but he would t make ir names public.

"What I really felt bad about was that one person creates a narrative in a wrong way and that carries through, and body even bors to go back and see tape, go into details," he said, clarifying that question was t asked on behalf of entire Indian tennis community but his "haters".

Rajpal took over captaincy in 2019 when n skipper Mahesh Bhupathi chose t to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.

At time of his appointment and during his tenure, his credentials were questioned. He has played only one Davis Cup tie in his career: a dead rubber against Korea in 1990.

He, though, was part of bronze medal-winning team at 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

So does he feel that he deserve to be leading India in Davis Cup? "Wher I deserve to be re or t is t a decision I would like to justify. That is in hands of Executive Committee, which is supreme.

"re are eugh people who kw tennis re. y have been re in sports administration since we were kids so I'm sure y take a balanced decision.

" second area is my players. day I feel that my players feel somebody else will do a better job I am first one to walk out myself. I don't need to be told to go. I am ready to walk out even today." As discussion turned towards his own career as a player, Rajpal said he was a perfect example of "what t to do".

"I had to quit because I slipped two discs in back. Before that I've beaten some very good players. I've played at top level. body can take that away from me. I'm an Asian Games medallist.

"I'm a Asian champion as well but I've never chosen to speak about it because I don't want to blow my own trumpet.

"I come again from batch of players that always said let your racket do talking. Mahesh Bhupati and Somdev, when y were playing, y mselves recommended my name and put a condition with AITA that I be captain." Rajpal said he overtrained due to lack of guidance and that cut short his career, in which he beat Leander Paes a number of times, and lost some very close matches to greats such as Wayne Ferreira and Tim Henman.

"I had one bad habit when I look back, which cost me my career, which was getting up at 5 in morning and running 20 kilometers on road.

"In those days, we did t have good cushioned shoes. We had a local shoe that sponsored me. And I ran with that shoe seven days a week. Every day of my life, I ran 20 kilometers on road to build endurance.

"And n obviously, I'm a good example of, as my coaches say, that I did t kw when to stop. I stopped only when it got dark. I only believed that hard work would take me through." He recalled time when he challenged some of world's higher ranked players.

"I had good fortune of training in Sweden and in Harry Hoffman's in Tampa, in Florida. I was training at that time with Jim Courier and he was a slugger. And, after a full day, he would leave and I would still train two hours more after he left, only to get better than him.

"I over-trained. And that's how my career ended very quickly. At 19, 20, I was already a guy with two slipped discs in my back and a very bad left leg. Wayne Ferrera, when I played him, he was number 11 in world on ATP. That was a close match.

"Tim Henman, again, a top player and I don't need to tell his credentials to you. It was a very close match, I lost third set tie-breaker.

"And I don't blame some of people for t being able to kw se things. Like I said to you, people don't research anymore. People don't look at things at in-depth anymore. People look at things only from surface, right? And which is a sad part.

"I'm t trying to justify, you kw, or trying to blow my trumpet. But I played at a world-class level myself. And thing, body can take that away from me."