Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan now have to pick up a win against Marco Cecchinato and Simone Bolelli in the doubles match on Saturday for the hosts to keep the tie alive.
The Briton has had a rough 2018 season as he missed most of the tournaments due to a hip injury.
The 31-year old was due to play her second-round match against number 3 seed Daria Kasatkina but it was the injury that forced her to withdraw from the tournament.
Against a team which leads 4-1 on head-to-head record, India have returned to their favourite Calcutta South Club (CSC) grass courts after 16 years.
Asked if India would be at a disadvantageous position minus Leander Paes on familiar surface at the South Club, Mahesh Bhupathi was dismissive in his reply.
Bhupathi said home comfort and the X-factor of Calcutta South Club's grass courts hold India in good stead in the tie.
Sharapova has rarely played the Russian tour events during her career, and when she has she's never got past the quarterfinals.
World No. 18 Marco Cecchinato will lead Italy's challenge, while they have two others inside top-60. India's top-ranked Prajnesh Gunneswaran, on the other hand, is world number 102.
Osaka's second consecutive major title, following her success at the U.S. Open last year, helped her rise three spots.
Novak Djokovic, a 31-year-old already ranked No. 1, now has won the past three men's Grand Slam titles.
Rafael Nadal was outplayed by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final on Sunday as the Spaniard suffered a straight set loss to the Serbian.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic won his 7th Australian Open title and he said it was amazing to achieve what he has after recovering from an injury.
Novak Djokovic dominated Rafael Nadal and came out with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win and take his 7th Australian Open title -- the most by any player.
The Australian Open final is the 53rd between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the most between two men in the professional era -- with Djokovic leading 27-25.
The victory allows the 21-year-old Osaka to become the first tennis player from Japan to reach No. 1 in the rankings.
In 2012, Djokovic edged Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 across 5 hours, 53 minutes, making it the lengthiest Grand Slam title match in history.
The victory Friday was the 10th in a row for Stosur and China's Zhang.
On Sunday, the 32-year-old Spaniard will try to earn his second Australian Open title — he won the hard-court event in 2009.
Tsitsipas' run to the first major semifinal of his nascent career was most notable for the way he beat 20-time major champion Federer in the fourth round, saving 12 of 12 break points across four sets.
Petra Kvitova defeated Danielle Collins 7-6 (2), 6-0 while Naomi Osaka downed Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the semi-finals to set up a summit clash against each other.
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