India's Davis Cup tennis hopes will rest on Harsh Mankad when they take on New Zealand in a Asia-Oceania Group I first round tie in Invercargill, New Zealand, starting on Friday.
Twenty-four year old Mankad, who has an ATP ranking of 329, is likely to be named India's number one player when the draw is made on Thursday.
India go into the match without their two key players, Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj, due to injury. But coach Nandan Bal derived confidence from Mankad's form in recent weeks.
"We are confident. Harsh (Mankad) has done well recently, reaching the semifinals and quarters of Futures tournaments in the US," Nandan Bal said on Wednesday.
"In fact, Harsh is ranked higher than their number one player Mark Nielsen," Bal added.
India meet New Zealand, from February 6 to 8, for the third successive time. On both the previous occasions, Indians prevailed 4-1.
Indian captain Leander Paes, coming into the match after reaching the mixed doubles final with Martina Navratilova at the Australian Open, is expected to play the second singles as well as the doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi.
Punna Vishal and Karan Rastogi are the other two members of the Indian team. The four-member Indian team will be nominated at the draw ceremony tomorrow.
Mankad himself seems to be focussed on the task ahead. In a way, the wheel has come full circle for the son of former cricketer Ashok Mankad. After being replaced by Bopanna and Amritraj as singles player in the last two years, India's fortunes once again depend on the soft-spoken Mumbai lad.
"The initial years in Davis Cup have been really difficult for me because I've been put against some of the toughest players in the world," Mankad was quoted as saying in a New Zealand website.
"But I have kind of got used to this stage now and I feel more comfortable being in the team.
"I am playing better tennis and I am doing this fulltime. I'm not at college anymore so I have enough time to prepare and make myself ready for these situations."
Bal said his team was the favourite since the hosts were fielding a new team which has three players who will be making their Davis Cup debut.
New Zealand have named Simon Rea, Daniel King-Turner and Mark Prentice alongside the experienced Nielsen with Bruce Derling as captain.
"They (Rea and Turner) are college players and without experience. They are planning to partner Nielsen with Rea, their number two," Bal said.
"Of course nothing is confirmed till the draw is made but playing in a first Davis Cup match is not going to be easy."
The Indians, who arrived in Invercargill on Monday, are scheduled to play the tie at the Southland Stadium indoors on carpet.
The weather has been rainy and a bit cold, said Bal adding "the surface here is very fast and should suit someone like Leander."
