When Paes spoke in no uncertain terms about what he felt a Davis Cup captain's qualities should be, it showed the present incumbent, Jaidip Mukherjea in rather poor light. The huge role which Paes feels a captain should play and the captain being the backbone of the team are qualities which are not even remotely connected with Mukherjea. But if he stopped short of saying that it was time for Mukherjea to look forward to retirement, it could be because he still respects the captain.

Yet, it took some lengthy explanation from Bhupathi of what exactly has been Piperno'scontribution to his game in the last couple of years, especially after Piperno was nominated for the Dronacharya Award, the highest award in the land given to exceptional coaches.

Bhupathi's arguments were rather feeble and he even went to the extent of saying, ``Rico (Piperno) has not taught me much as a tennis player. He basically ensures that I go to the gym, gets three hours of practice every day. When we started off a couple of years ago, that was the agreement that he wouldn't have to work much on my game. He has not given me any big weapon as such.''

That is some statement considering that tennis coaches all over the world are hired to impart latest techniques, discuss strategy, and keep adding that extra edge to their players. In this case, Piperno could go down in history as one coach who cornered all glory by merely organising practice schedules and fixing time at gymnasiums.

Then whom does he discuss strategy with? ``Bob talks to me a bit before and after a match,'' Bhupathi said. AustralianBob Carmichael is Paes' coach.

The big weapons which Bhupathi possesses have been his father CGK's contribution which the son readily agrees. Well, if a very uncomfortable Bhupathi veered dangerously towards admitting that Piperno does everthing except imparting techinque and strategy, it can only be `unfortunate'.

That `uncomfortable feeling' continued when Paes was asked about the role of the coach in the Indian Davis Cup team which consists of two players and others. In this case, the two jobs are done by the same man and Bhupathi had no choice but to come up with the same answers.

``The coach's role is very important. He organises our practice schedules, fixes courts and ensures that things go smoothly.'' Again, does Piperno as a coach point out flaws in Paes's tecnhique and correct them? ``No. Even if he does, Leander will not listen to him.'' That means Piperno holds two jobs without doing anything substantial.

That brings to the question. Why need a coach when a strong captain can double-up asboth? Paes's formula for a good coach is that he should be strong on motivation, strategy and preparation. Pretty tough qualities for any coach.

Paes feels the India's earlier successes in Davis Cup was basically due to excellent camaraderie in the team and the ability to pull together when the chips are down. He, however, refused to compare his former captain Naresh Kumar and the present one, but went on to add, ``The records show who was good,'' obviously referring to Mukherjea's poor record in ties abroad.

In a potentially exciting scenario of a coach organising practice schedules and a captain resting eternally on his laurels, the world's number one pair rides on, nevertheless.