OK then really why NOT try it on the funny clay (hard base of cowdung or something, slippery/sandy, and rather fast) like they had at the Madras Gymkhana courts? .. After all we know that at least Harsh and Rohan can handle that surface very well. Harsh beat a top-225 European and a top-350 European there - the second, The Slovakian Kapcovic, has excellent clay abilities and a huge serve etc, and HM beat him 62 61. So Harsh can clearly play his game on that court. His biggest title came there.  [I know, I know - the Swedes are at a totally different level, but Iam talking about what surface Indians have had success on lately, at the futures/challenger level].

Remember that Rohan did well too at Chennai -- he upset the #280 German guy Sebastien Fitz in a 64 61 match there too, before losing to Capkovic in a 60 36 46 match where his lack of conditioning (then) after the layoff was the main reason for the loss. Rohan also reached the Colombo clay futures final after that; and if I am not mistaken, those courts where Chennai guys like Jaco and Vinod have done well in the past, are similar to the Indian hard-fast-slippery-clay ..

On that surface, I will count on the doubles win against the Swedes! .. LP-MB have always been unbeatable on good/true claylike surfaces, unlike on uneven grass where they have had many so-so matches.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me that we should take a chance with Harsh and Rohan on the sandy-hard Indian clay like the Madras Gymkhana courts. All we need is ONE upset win somehow and some luck in terms of dehydration or injury or something on the 3rd day.  

I also feel that on a fast clay court, Leander may not be too bad either. He must know about those Madras courts from his days in Chennai if he needs to make a judgement on this. He has certainly played on the Indian clay. In fact, some of LP's best wins have come on clay (Frejus, Pribram, etc) - he can play on clay, really well, once he decides he is going to do whatever it takes to adjust his game and play. It would be pretty easy for him to do that on Indian hard clay (see my suggestion for a challenger the week before - perfect for LP to get some singles match practice if he wants). If LP finds himself in form, then he is the kingpin and we have three players to pick from, for singles.

The only thing is that Prakash will be taken out of the equation in that case, because he has no experience on that surface. In any event, I suspect that his style of game really would be no problem for the Swedes to handle, even on grass courts where the Swedes do fine. If Rohan is really cooking like he is beginning to, then he needs to be considered anyway.

In my view, the funny Indian clay is something only our players have experience on and the Swedes may not have much clue on. Being top-15 players, they would probably learn it well in 2-3 days but still I feel that we should look for some (any) sort of home advantage however minimal it may be .. On hardcourt, we have no advanatge, and grass seems to be a very risky option too, especially when you consider that PA's and RB's game might get easily neutralized and the doubles point becomes iffy.  In addition, we MUST pick a place which is relatively hot and humid even in september, because that gives us an added benefit -- this might take out places up North in India ..

We also know that not too many Europeans have recenlty done well on that type of surface in India (remember Somdev's title at the sandy-hard Kolkata saturday club courts too).

I am not sure if Madras Gymkhana has large enough stands or if they can put up temporary stands fast enough.  Actually I don't know if any big club in India has one of those Indian hard-sandy-clay court with big enough stands for Davis Cup. Anybody knows?

Here is my suggestion. Let us pick a court like the Madras courts, and do a challenger the week before (which is the week after US Open) on that. Have Harsh, Rohan, Prakash, and heck, even Leander play there. Then the next week we do Davis Cup on the same court and go right after the Swedes who would be a fish out of water. What say you? .. Come on AITA, reserve a challenger spot in the ATP calendar for the previous week, NOW!  .. Let us do some planning!

No question that organizing a challenger would be no problem, because the organizers know that they could easily get all the top players from India (and even get LP and MB to make at least an apperance for a weekend kids' clinic or something as well). It is a perfect week for a challenger, because tennis will be in the news big time, with the Sunfeast WTA and Davis Cup in the week after and USOpen in the news the week before.

In any case, we MUST do a challenger the week before, whichever surface we decide to play on, whereever. The Indian team needs to be on that court for TWO weeks, and the swedes only for 3 days. That is a MUST.