At a time when it is being considered that Indian tennis is on the rise, government policies are playing a spoil sport.

The first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open concluded with the Indian flag flying high at Melbourne.

Mahesh Bhupathi finished runners-up in men's doubles and lifted the mixed doubles silverware with Sania Mirza. In the junior front, Yuki Bhambri was crowned the singles champion.

However, couple of days later and exactly 1690 miles away things were quiet awry at Perth for the Indian eves.

The Indian women's team was competing in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Federation Cup where it failed to win a tie and thus got relegated. The side consisted of Ankita Bhambri, younger sister and debutant Sanaa Bhambri and aging veteran Rushmi Chakravati.

Sania Mirza, who is the highest ranked Indian, decided to skip national duty due an abdominal strain (Strange as it may sound, but Sania was practicing at the DLTA courts in New Delhi just a day after the tournament started and soon left for the Thailand Open).

Meanwhile, Shikha and Neha Oberoi along with Sunita Rao were not even considered in the squad following a sports ministry diktat which stated that individuals holding a foreign passport would not make it to the team. However, they would be considered if they gave up their foreign passport.

The policy may spell trouble for the sport but apart from that it questions the fact that are we reluctant to embrace Indians settled abroad.

Meanwhile back home, players and coaches are diplomatically welcoming the move. Sanaa Bhambri feels that the policy is fair for Indian players who finally get to represent the country after training on home soil, a situation, their NRI counterparts are totally oblivious to.

India's Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno feels that if players settled abroad are keen to represent the nation they shouldn't think twice before putting in their foreign passport and taking up Indian citizenship.

Meanwhile, the Davis Cup team could also face the heat of the government policy when they take on Chinese Taipei in an away tie next month. Rising singles star and NRI Prakash Amritraj in all likeliness will miss the cut which will send AITA in a tizzy over locating a second singles player after Somdev Devvarman. Chances are that Rohan Bopanna would be recalled to the side and Yuki Bhambri might be in the reserve.

The players in question, Shikha Oberoi, Neha Oberoi, Sunita Rao and Prakash Amritraj are the holders of the much-sought after US passport, and to do away with it, could be flirting with their future.