NEW DELHI: It was the winter of 1966. Indian film industry's two mega stars of that era - Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Bano - had come to witness the India-West Germany Davis Cup tie at the Delhi Gymkhana. Also present was then Prime Minister of the country, Indira Gandhi.
Naturally, the pressure to win was on the Indian team that comprised of Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaidip Mukherjea and Premjit Lall. All legends of Indian tennis now. Krishnan and Mukherjea were at the peak of their careers. Krishnan had already reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon men's singles competition twice, while Mukherjea had fourth-round appearances in all four Grand Slams to his credit by then. Up against them were Germans Wilhelm Bungert and Ingo Buding.
