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It's the bambi-eyed look of a nursery boy watching his parents drive away, leaving him in school to momentarily fend for himself. Lodged in a face that can glare fiercely at rivals when playing his sport and on a man with some of India's most muscular set of limbs, they confuse you as you try and slot him into a leadership role for a pack of tennis-racquet wielding men of similar age.
The Indian men's team has just picked a bronze medal behind Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan, and after a few snapshots on the centre-court they are readying to go hit the courts when Somdev Devvarman is sought out for interviews and the rest of the pack Sanam Singh, Vishnu Vardhan and Karan Rastogi head off to train.
Afraid to lose sight of them, India's top singles player keeps looking back at their retreating backs, heavily distracted, munching words in his responses and wanting to be back with his pals on Court 8 much more than spouting reams on leadership and mentoring that would from him, as the senior-most of the lot, be expected.
"Do I come across as the leader of the pack? I'd be a little uncomfortable with that known as the leader or the big guy. I wouldn't want that. Me and Karan have traveled together since our junior days. Sanam was a team-mate and buddy at University (Virginia) and I'm there for Vishnu when he's playing his doubles, but there can't be a hierarchy in this team," he says.
There are massive two pairs of shoes to fill here Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and with Rohan Bopanna too absent, Devvarman suddenly finds himself the oldest on the squad. "Yeah, I'm used to being the youngest," he says with a wry smile, adding that his very young team would obviously not enjoy the assured leadership, not to mention the guaranteed gold, of the two senior pros. "We are a very young team but this squad has a lot of heart. We'll live and learn. We don't want to be satisfied with bronze, and it'll be stupid to say we'll do better at the next Asian Games because that's four years from now, but though we'd have liked gold, the bronze is not that bad," the 25-year-old says.
We're looking at the immediate future of Indian tennis 3-4 years down the line, and despite their 20-25 age-frame, these men have come to value camaraderie with compatriots over all else after spending their teens traveling to far-flung places mostly alone lugging their kitbags that always weighed heavy after early exits in tournaments.
Camaraderie for all to see
"Four of us really get along well. And I like the Games atmosphere. It's like being in college once again, or being a young junior all over again. Sitting in the village, staying in apartments with other athletes, this camaraderie is a nice difference from the pro tour," the World No 106 says, quite keen on catching a few of India's basketball and squash games, eager too of cheering on the boxers.
"Either way, it's just great to see all Indians trying so hard and egging each other on," he adds.
The individual events will pit Devvarman and Co. against some very medal-driven Taiwanese and Uzbeks, as also the Japanese. "But I've gotten used to the courts and playing good tennis. Let things unfold as they do," Devvarman says, not committing to a target in the tougher singles event.
The team might have struck a bronze only but though the doubles gold will be rued each day as Indians struggle to get accustomed to Paes-Bhupathi not being here also the fact sinking in that they can't be around forever the silver line is that new bonds are forging strong in Guangzhou that will stand them in good stead. And like they say, reluctant leaders deliver the best. Somdev is one amongst all the equal men.
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