Pak tennis star Aisam's absence won't hurt team's chances in Davis Cup: Coach

Karachi, Apr 3(ANI): Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul- Haq Qureshi's absence will not hurt the team's chances in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Round II tie against Philippines, coach and non-playing captain Mohammad Khalid Siddiq has said.

"Our victory doesn't depend on Aisam. I know that Aisam has the best Davis Cup record in the squad but this doesn't mean you underestimate the juniors," The Express Tribune quoted Siddiq, as saying.

Aisam has been forced out of the tie due to injury and has been replaced by Jalil Khan for the tie that starts from April 6 in Manila.

"Despite everything, there's a silver lining here. We finally get to see new faces represent Pakistan. Even Philippines is testing new players so it'll be a battle of the young guns," he added.

Siddiq stressed that the team needed encouragement and added that the Pakistan Tennis Federation stopped being dependent only on Aisam.

He added that Jalil, Yasir Khan and Mohammad Abid were capable players and the team had a very good chance of winning the tie.

"We'd be really worried if Philippines had the same players they had last year but it's a different story now," he added. (ANI)