Leander to India's rescue again
	ALMATY: Skipper Leander Paes slipped into his familiar competitive shoes for the crucial fifth rubber against host Kazakhstan and saw India through to safety in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group `I'' play-off tie at the Baganashil Sports Complex on Sunday. The hero of many a Davis Cup battle, Leander put himself in the line of fire, instead of singles specialist Karan Rastogi, after Rohan Bopanna had lost a thrilling five-setter against Kazakh No.1 Alexei Kedryuk, that had kept the tie alive at 2-2. Though Karan had given a good account of himself against Kedryuk in the second rubber on Friday, when he lost in four sets and stood a good chance to humble the unheralded Kazakh in the fifth, Leander opted to trust his own fighting qualities at the crunch. He was confident as he had played a string of doubles matches on the Tour and had won back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami. Hesitant start Having not having played a singles match for many months, Leander got off the blocks rather hesitantly against the 1245th ranked Dmitriy Makeyev, before prevailing 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 41 minutes. It was only his second singles match in more than two years for Leander. He had struggled in five sets on his favourite grass against Aqeel Khan of Pakistan around the same time last year at Mumbai while clinching the issue for India in another Davis Cup encounter. Like that time, the result ensured that India would stay in the Asia-Oceania Group `I' for the next season, while Kazakhstan will take on China in the second-round play-off in September. Leander has also not played singles on the professional tour after his match in the Chennai Open in January 2005. The 33-year-old Leander took his Davis Cup win-loss record to 81-30 including a singles record of 48-21. This was his tenth victory in the fifth rubber. He went past Alex Metreveli (80-25) to the fifth place in the all-time list for most wins in Davis Cup. He is now placed behind Nicola Pietrangeli of Italy (120-44), Ilie Nastase of Romania (109-37), Manuel Santana of Spain (92-28) and Gottfried Von Cramm of Germany (82-19). Earlier, Rohan Bopanna bounced back from being two sets down to tackle Kedryuk with competence. But at 3-3 and 15-15 in the deciding fifth set, the 263rd ranked Bopanna twisted his ankle. He continued after strapping the ankle and medical attention, but was distinctly in discomfort as Kedryuk clinched the match 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 in three hours and 13 minutes. Bopanna had won the opening singles against Makeyev rather comfortably for the loss of five games in three sets, and had partnered Leander to clinch the doubles for the loss of six games on Saturday. He had never beaten Kedryuk in singles and that was perhaps a psychological barrier for him against the 292nd ranked Kazakh. It may be noted that Bopanna had won only two matches out of 11 in Davis Cup before the current tie, and thus it was pretty satisfying for him to play a crucial role in India's 3-2 triumph. He had skipped the previous tie against Uzbekistan at Namangan.