Indian doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi clarified that the All India Tennis Association decided to pair Sania Mirza with Leander Paes for the coming Doha Asian Games because it felt the duo have the best chance of winning the mixed doubles gold for India.
Bhupathi, who had on Tuesday expressed surprise at the powers-that-be in Indian tennis preferring Leander to him as Sania's partner for the quadrennial event, said the AITA gave him three reasons for the decision.
"One, Sania and Leander played together in the last Asiad. Two, they are also partners in the Asian Hoffman Cup in Hyderabad. Three, at present Leander is in better form than me," said Bhupathi, who got a call from AITA secretary Anil Khanna on Wednesday morning.
"Khanna also told me that the decision was taken by the three-member selection committee who thought that the pair has the best chance of winning the gold," said Bhupathi, who is in Kolkata for the WTA Sunfeast Open, which is organized by his sports management company, Globosport.
Bhupathi, who still seemed hurt by the decision, reiterated that he was not consulted before the decision.
"I had only been reading and hearing about it ever since I returned to India, till I spoke to Khanna," he added.