Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal has withdrawn from the country’s upcoming Davis Cup away tie against Finland citing a hip injury and has been replaced by Saketh Myneni in the five-man squad for the indoor contest on September 18-19.

Nagal, who had lost in the first round of the US Open qualifiers, communicated to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Saturday that doctors have advised him not to play on hard courts.

Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal and chairman of the selection committee Nandan Bal decided that Myneni, who last played for India in 2018 in the World Group play-off tie against Serbia, should replace Nagal in the tie to be played in Espoo, near Helsinki.

“Sumit Nagal has written to us that he can’t play this Davis Cup tie due to a hip injury he sustained after the US Open qualifiers. Myneni can play both singles and doubles, so he has been added to the squad,” AITA secretary general Anil Dhupar said.

Myneni was part of the India squad that beat Pakistan in Kazakhstan in 2019 but did not get to play any match.

“I have not played in any tournament since April. I could not get a visa to play in the US also. But I have been training and playing practice matches all these months. It's good to be back in the team,” Myneni said on Sunday.

“I just have to be ready for my chance. I have done it in the past. I will help the team prepare well. Overall, I feel good about my game but the match sharpness may not be at the same level.”

Nandan said: “Saketh was unanimous choice to replace Sumit... You can use him for both singles and doubles matches.”

The team is set to leave for Finland on September 8. Myneni joins Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan for the match against Finland.