Fed Cup 2020: India announces five-member squad; Sania Mirza returns

What's the story?

India's most successful female tennis star, Sania Mirza will represent the nation at the upcoming edition of Fed Cup. The five-member squad also features Ankita Raina, Riya Bhatia, Rutuja Bhosle and Karman Kaur Thandi.

The background

Sania Mirza had taken some time off the tennis court to start a family. She played her last match in 2017 and, she is gearing up to make her return at Hobart International with Ukraine's Nadiia Kichenok. The doubles specialist's last Fed Cup appearance for India came in the year 2016. In that tournament, the Indian team had blanked Kazakhstan 3-0 in the Asia/Oceania Group I playoff match at Hua Hin.

6-time Grand Slam champion @MirzaSania has been named in India’s Federation Cup team for the Asia/Oceania Group I event to be held in February 2020. Sania last played competitively in October 2017. We wish her the best!@KirenRijiju @KirenRijiju @YASMinistry @IndiaSports pic.twitter.com/ZAYbjfIFG4
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) December 24, 2019

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The heart of the matter

Ankita Raina will be the player to watch out for

Ankita Raina, the country's premier female singles star, will look to inspire the Indian team to a memorable win in their Group I match which will take place in February 2020. The Group I of the Asia/Oceania Zone consists of China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, South Korea and Uzbekistan along with India.

As reported by PTI, Vishal Uppal will play the role of the skipper for the Indian Fed Cup team while Ankita Bhambri will coach the team. Besides, Sowjanya Bavisetti is present in the squad as the reserve player. The Indian fans' hopes will rest on the duo of Mirza and Raina because the other three women's players are outside 350 in the WTA rankings.

Last year, India had lost to South Korea by 1-2 in the Asia/Oceania Group I Playoffs match. They will look to better their past performance.

What's next?

It will be intriguing to see if the Indian women's tennis stars can outlast their Asia-Oceania rivals in the Fed Cup.