On March 4, 2005 in what was an afternoon hotter than what springtime Lahore would usually experience, Pakistan’s second ranked tennis player Aqeel Khan had just taken the second set of a grueling encounter against Asia No 1 Paradorn Srichaphan, to level the second rubber of the Asia/Oceana Zone Group 1 tie against Thailand at one set all.

As the third set began, the capacity crowd inside Bagh-e-Jinnah Lahore, numbering over 1,000 - mammoth for a tennis tie in Pakistan - could sense the determination in Aqeel’s play, in what was the biggest tennis match of his career.

To put things into perspective, Srichaphan had been World Number 11 only 12 months ago, having reached the fourth rounds each of Australian Open (2004) - where he beat three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten, which remained the Brazilian’s highest finish in Melbourne - Wimbledon (2003) - where he became the first player to beat a young Rafael Nadal at a major - and US Open (2003).

In the first rubber, longtime partner and Pakistan’s biggest name, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, had beaten Danai Udomchoke in four sets, and while no one was remotely expecting it, Aqeel beating Srichaphan would all but seal the Davis Cup tie considering how strong Aisam-Aqeel were - and still are - as a doubles team.

All of a sudden Aqeel was a mini break up in the tiebreaker - after solid serving throughout the third set - and for the first time, a huge upset truly looked on the cards.

Srichaphan brought all his Grand Slam savoir-faire into play, counterattacking his way to a 7-3 tiebreak win, eventually cruising to the finish line with a 6-1 fourth set domination.

However, Aisam-Aqeel would go on to overpower Srichaphan-Udonchoke in the doubles, with Aisam following it with the now memorable win over Srichaphan in the fourth rubber. Pakistan would follow up the win over Thailand by another overpowering display against Chinese Taipei in Bagh-e-Jinnah next month, to qualify for the World Group playoff in 2005 - their biggest triumph since reaching the then Eastern Zone final in 1984.

While a 5-0 landslide in September was in store against a Chile side spearheaded in Santiago by Fernando Gonzalez, who would go on to make the year-ending ATP Masters Cup, Pakistan tennis was clearly headed forward under Aisam and Aqeel.

But the two that had been spearheading their sport in Pakistan since the turn of the millennium - which included playoff wins at home against China (2002), South Korea (2003) and New Zealand (2004) to keep Pakistan in Group I - would go separate ways in their individual careers, just as Pakistan tennis imploded owing to multiple factors many of which weren’t in the players’ - or the federation’s - control.

While Aisam would play the Wimbledon singles main draw, going toe to toe with Marat Safin in 2007, and reach the pinnacle of the doubles game with US Open final appearance in Men’s and Mixed in 2011, a lack of financial resources would keep Aqeel at home with opportunities at ITF Pro Circuit/ATP Challenger coming few and far between.

Meanwhile, as Aisam would remain on his travels outside of Davis Cup duty, Aqeel would build a dynasty at home. In the 12 years since the 2005 World Group playoff, Aqeel has averaged less than a loss per year, as he has remained - without any question - the Pakistan number 1 on the local circuit.

But as Aqeel established his empire at home, and Aisam gradually became a household name thanks to his doubles exploits, Pakistan would remain deprived of international tennis.

Following the win over Chinese Teipei in September 2005, Pakistan wouldn’t host any of their ‘home’ ties in the country - an exile that was further rubberstamped by the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009.

On April 9, 2006 a little over a year after Aqeel had held that mini break in the third set against Srichapan, he had two break points against all-time doubles great Leander Paes in the first game of the fifth and final set in Mumbai. Aqeel had come back from two sets down to take the decider to the fifth, a break in the opening game would give him 13 of the previous 16 games, having won the third and fourth set 6-3, 6-0.

Paes would hold and romp home 6-1 in the final set, giving India a 3-2 win in the much hyped Indo-Pak Group I clash. Pakistan would go on to lose to Chinese Taipei 3-2 in the next tie, and would be relegated to Group II - not making the Group I again in the next decade.

On February 11, 2007, as Aisam took a much publicised break from Davis Cup duties, Pakistan lost to Pacific Oceania and Philippines and were relegated to Group III. The team that only 15 months ago was a win away from the World Group was now in the second last tier of the Asia/Oceania group.

Even though Pakistan would bounce back to Group II immediately next year, with all ties being contested away - on hard and clay - the team would remain in the second-tier till 2015.

As new blood was injected into the Davis Cup squad between 2014-16 with the likes of Samir Iftikhar, Abid Ali Akbar and Mohammed Abid, coupled with Aisam increasingly avoiding playing three rubbers - two singles and a doubles - in three days, it became increasingly likely that Pakistan’s future would depend on youngsters, for better or worse.

And yet neither Samir Iftikhar nor Mohammed Abid could win any of their singles matches in 2014 - Samir’s walkover in the Group II playoff’s dead rubber notwithstanding - as Pakistan were beaten by Thailand for Group I promotion, there wasn’t much cause for buoyance.

In the year 2015, as Pakistan got promoted to Group I after 10 seasons, beating Chinese Taipei that had relegated them to Group III in 2006, the team was still carried by Aisam and Aqeel.

There might’ve been a glimmer of hope in the shape of Abid Ali Akbar who took Kuwait’s Mohammed Ghareeb - who had beaten Aqeel Khan in straight sets - to five sets in the Group II first round, and then both he and Samir beating Indonesia’s David AgungSusanto in the fourth and second rounds, but Pakistan’s promotion was almost entirely down to Aqeel and Aisam, despite the latter sitting out the Indonesia tie.

This was further visible as Pakistan without Aisam - who only played a solitary doubles tie throughout the year - were blanked 5-0 by both China and New Zealand, as none of Mohammed Abid, Samir Iftikhar, Yasir Khan - or indeed Aqeel himself - could register a win.

Back in Group II in 2017, after a brief return to Group I, Pakistan were bolstered by Aisam’s return earlier this year as they beat Iran in the first round. With Aqeel and Aisam having won both the singles and doubles ties, giving Pakistan an unassailable 3-0 lead in Tehran, both Abid Ali Akbar and Mohammed Abid would go on to lose the dead rubbers.

Pakistan were handed a walkover in the second round as the country was slated in to host their first Davis Cup tie in over a decade. With Hong Kong pulling out, Pakistan faced off against Thailand last weekend (September 15-17) to go back to Group I.

As Pakistan hosted the Group II playoff in Islamabad, it was a lot more than the return of international sports - as the Davis Cup tie coincided with the Independence Cup cricket series against the ICC World XI.

Hosting the tie meant that for the first time since 2005 Pakistan would be able to play on home grass courts, where they haven’t lost a single tie since 1998.

This boost reflected on Friday, September 15, as Pakistan demolished their Thai counterparts in straight sets in the first two singles. Aqeel and Aisam lost a combined 16 games in their six sets against Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul and Kittipong Wachiramanowong.

With Pakistan in cruise control heading into the doubles rubber - traditionally Pakistan’s forte with Aisam at their disposal - captain Muhammad Khalid made a bold call - to say the least - by playing Mohammed Abid and Shahzad Khan in the doubles.

The word from the camp was that the decision was a combination of trying to save the legs of aging Aisam and Aqeel, should reverse singles be called upon, and trusting Abid and Shahzad to get the job done.

Even though Pakistan started according to the script, Thailand’s Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatanaeventually outplayed Abid and Shahzad 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the doubles.

However, Pakistan were confident of making it to Group I on Sunday, with both Aisam and Aqeel due to play the reverse singles. What followed was the most dramatic day of Davis Cup action witnessed in Pakistan for a couple of decades.

After Aqeel had dispatched Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul - a top 600 player - 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday, Aisam was supposed to take Pakistan home with ease in the first reverse singles on Sunday. But a different Trongcharoenchaikul showed up in the fourth rubber, increasingly comfortable on the grass, who didn’t resemble the frustrated figure that he had become in the opening match.

In one of the closest Davis Cup matches ever played by Pakistan, Trongcharoenchaikul eventually prevailed in the fifth set tiebreak after Aisam - who was visibly struggling with an injury - had almost completed a comeback from 2-0 down to lose 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6.

At around 5:30 pm local time, on Sunday, September 17, with light fading in Islamabad, Aqeel Khan tossed the ball up to serve and start the fifth and final set, in the fifth and final rubber, against Kittipong Wachiramanowong. Aqeel had lost the third and fourth sets 6-3 and 6-2, after winning the first two 6-4 and 6-3.

Two days ago he would’ve been hoping Pakistan would have the tie wrapped up by Saturday. The previous night he would’ve been confident that he mightn’t be needed on the deciding Sunday. An hour before that service toss he would’ve been sure of taking Pakistan home in three sets.

Aqeel was half an hour away from pushing Pakistan back to Group II - or earning a place in Group I, where he and Aisam had kept Pakistan from 2002 and 2005.

12 years since serving at a minibreak up in the third set against Srichaphan at Bagh-e-Jinnah- and the tennis exile, the stagnation of talent, the divergence of his and Aisam’s career paths, his own aging body that had all surfaced in these years - Aqeel began a one-set shootout against another Thai opponent, losing which - at home - would’ve been a disaster for Pakistan tennis.

Aqeel’s 6-2 win in the decider sent his side back into Group I as Pakistan tennis came full circle with Davis Cup win over Thailand in the first tie at home in 12 years.

But unlike September 2005 when Pakistan were eying a shot at the World Group with two of the country’s greatest tennis players at the peak of their powers, Pakistan head into Group I in the year 2018 as dependent as ever on two middle-aged legends, 12 years later.