Rohan Bopanna will have to sustain the high standard of tennis he displayed against Holland if India is to break into the World Group of the Davis Cup, says team captain Ramesh Krishnan.
"Rohan [Bopanna] played one of the best matches but it is a question of playing consistently at that level," Krishnan told PTI from Zwolle after India lost the World Group qualifying tie to hosts The Netherlands 0-5 on Sunday.
It was the fourth consecutive loss for India at the play-off stage, after having lost to Sweden, the US and Australia in previous outings since Krishnan took over as captain in 2000.
"The next tie is five months from now; that is a long time in modern tennis. We have identified the group of players who have shown promise but we have to cash in on that," Krishnan said.
Asked if the play-off has become a sort of jinx for India, Krishnan said, "There are too many ifs and buts."
"First, we have not had a full strength team in the last two years. This time Leander [Paes] was not there, and last year against Australia we did not have Mahesh [Bhupathi]," Krishnan said.
"The draw has been very tough. I think we need to have a full strength team playing at home for us to move up," Krishnan said.
Krishnan said though India did not win a match against the strong Dutch team, "we did have some excitement".
"[Martin] Verkerk was not in good form before the tie, so we eyed our chance there, and Rohan played well above himself.
"The doubles was also well-fought; we were leading in the second set before we lost.
"Ultimately they [Holland] had the depth. Sjeng Schalken is a top-ranked player and they straightaway had two points in the singles.
"So, we had to win the remaining three points which was not going to be easy," he said.