Paes to play first singles against Alayli in Davis Cup match

India number one Leander Paes will kick-start the country's campaign in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Lebanon when he takes on Karim Alayli of the host country in the first singles match on Friday.

Harsh Mankad will play Lebanon's top player Ali Hamadeh in the second singles, according to the draw announced on Thursday.

In the doubles, to be played on Saturday, the ace combination of Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will clash with the pair of Hamadeh and Patrick Chucri.

The reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

India, who have been practicing on the hard indoor surface after reaching Beirut on Sunday, start favourites, with non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan quite confident of the team getting past Lebanon.

"We should come through. We are quite positive about it.

"We have been practising here for the last few days and our preparation is good," he said.

Krishnan said the decision not to field Bhupathi in the singles was a collective one.

"He hasn't been playing much in the singles of late. I think, he himself will be more comfortable playing only the doubles match here."

The two countries had last met in Lucknow in 1999 when Lebanon had extended India into the fourth rubber after winning the doubles in the absence of Bhupathi.