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Riding on the back of two magnificent comeback matches (Leander Paes-Rohan Bopanna doubles victory, followed by Somdev Devvarman’s win in singles in Bangalore), Yuki Bhambri, 22, had everything going for him in the final rubber of the India-Serbia World Group play-off tie. Yuki had the “momentum” going into the match against Filip Krajinovic, 22, but he didn’t bring two important ingredients to the court: tenacity and killer instinct.

India paid dearly.

Filip, playing the biggest match of his Davis Cup career, a live fifth rubber, showed remarkable composure to best his opponent in three straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-4, ensuring Serbia’s return to where it belongs, the World Group.

“It’s easy to criticise during crisis time, but one has to tell the player how to raise the game when things are not going his way. A captain cannot afford to drop his shoulders when the player on court is making a series of unforced errors. The captain should be up on his feet trying to bring back that spark in the player,” said Bogdan Obradovic, Serbia’s non-playing captain. He did not name Anand Amritraj while hinting at the Indian captain’s lack of passion in backing the players in a team event like Davis Cup.

Bogdan said if Indian players like Yuki and Somdev manage to instill that killer instinct in their game, India would show up regularly in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Davis Cup.

Slobodan Zivojinovic, honorary president of Serbian tennis federation, said something similar. “Somdev may not have a big weapon in his game, but his legs are his weapon. He has the skill and if he adds some more speed, he can easily rank among the top 50 players in the world.”

Somdev, on his part, did produce one of the finest matches of his career to outclass Dusan Lajovic in a thrilling five-setter 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-2 and level the tie 2-2 on Sunday evening.

But Yuki, who has a fairly impressive game, disappointed India. “The way I’ve played in last two days, I haven’t played in last 10 years.” said Yuki, who was clearly crestfallen at his miserable performance.

“Someday I’d like to reverse this 2-3 defeat into a 3-2 victory for India,” Yuki said.

Until then, it’s back to the drawing board for the Indian Davis Cup team in their search for that elusive aspect in sports that separates a champion side from the rest: that killer instinct.

(Editing by Robert MacMillan; Follow Anupam of Twitter @IPratihary and Robert @bobbymacReports | This article is website-exclusive and cannot be reproduced without permission)