Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan will lead the singles challenge while Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will make the doubles pair for the grass-court tie, scheduled to be held in Islamabad on September 14-15.
The PTF chief also said they plan to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to watch the contest, scheduled for September 14-15, and promised a memorable hospitality to the visiting team and fans.
The Pakistan Tennis Federation has said that the country will host the Indian tennis team for the Davis Cup tie.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and Bopanna will be in the Indian team which will compete in Islamabad in September for the Asia/Oceania Group title.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
Keeping the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in mind, the sports ministry has included the doubles duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, who won the Asian Games gold last year, have been kept in TOPS scheme.
Trailing 0-2 after losing the opening day's singles rubbers, doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan kept India's slender hopes alive by beating Simone Boelleli and Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a one-hour 43 minutes battle.
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan came from behind to beat the Italian combination of Simone Boelleli and Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 6-4 in an one-hour 43 minutes battle at Calcutta South Club.
Berrettini, the youngest member in the team, had pipped Italy's top-ranked singles player Marco Cecchinato (world number 19) to make the singles draw.
Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi admitted that the his players were under pressure against Italy, something that top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran also echoed.
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.
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.
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.
Cilic, a former U.S. Open champion, gave Croatia a 3-1 unassailable lead in the best-of-five series on indoor clay in northern France with a ruthless display.
They lost 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-7(4) to relatively inexperienced pair of Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic after two hours and 22 minutes on indoor courts.
Djere, ranked 86, had lost both his earlier Davis Cup matches before clashing with Ramkumar, ranked 135, at Kraljevo Sports Venue.
Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire who penalized Williams is also handling their best-of-five semifinal series against Croatia this weekend.
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