By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS): Rohan Jaitley, son of late Arun Jaitley who is contesting for the president's post of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), had a surprise visitor on Friday evening: legendary tennis player Leander Paes, who wished him well for his foray into cricket administration.

Paes, 47, was in Delhi to meet Rohit Rajpal, his former India Davis Cup teammate and current Davis Cup non-playing captain. Taking advantage of Paes's presence, Rajpal said he took him to meet Jaitley at a five-star hotel in the heart of the city.

"Rohan is a dear friend; he's like a younger brother. Leander was here in Delhi, and we were discussing some matter regarding the Indian Davis Cup team. Since Leander was here, so we thought we would stop by [at the hotel] and congratulate Rohan [on his impending win]," Rajpal, 49, also president of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA), told IANS.

Jaitley, 31, is a consensus candidate of all the groups within the DDCA. The elections for the president's post, besides that of the secretary and four directors, are scheduled to take place from October 17-20 and the results are to be declared on October 21.

Incidentally, both Rajpal and Jaitley are also connected through a political party, the BJP.

"This visit had nothing to do with party politics. I know Rohan for about five years or so. And I also knew his father, late Mr Arun Jaitley. Since I am president of the DLTA, I encourage any youngster who wants to come into sports for doing something good," emphasised Rajpal, who joined the BJP in 2014.

Jaitley is expected to win the DDCA post without a contest. Although Sunil Kumar Goel has filed his nomination papers, he is expected to withdraw his candidature on Saturday.

Rajpal's was re-elected to the post of DLTA president for a second straight four-year term in August.

Paes holds the record of most doubles wins in Davis Cup team competition with an enviable 45-13 win-loss score.