Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza. Image Credits: Twitter

WPL 2023: Sania Mirza- The six-time grand slam title winner Sania Mirza is considered a pioneer in women’s sports in India. She is the recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan, Arjuna award and the Padma Shri. Mirza now wears the cap of being the mentor for the women’s women’s team of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Indian ace tennis player Mirza said in the video posted by the official RCB Twitter handle that it is not mandatory to be best friends with all the team members in the squad.

Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza. Image Credits: Twitter

Mirza’s reaction after becoming a mentor of the women’s team of RCB in WPL- 

In the video interaction, the former doubles world no.1 was asked if she was surprised when the team reached out to her.

“Yeah, I was a little surprised, but I was really excited because I think that fortunately,unfortunately for 20 years I’ve been a professional athlete,which is very depressing sometimes times when I think of it because it’s so long But I feel like my next job once I retire is to try and help young women. Young girls believe that sport can be one of the first career choices for them“, said Sania

The 36-year-old Mirza retired from Grand Slam events in tennis, after reaching Australian Open 2023 finals in January with Rohan Boppanna in a mixed double category. She will be last featured in ATP Dubai Open later this month and will then join the newly offered role by RCB.

“And for me I feel the kind of things that I did go through 30 years ago when I picked up a tennis racket, which, you know, to play tennis was kind of unheard of at that point. I just want to try and help the next generation in believing in themselves that no matter how many odds are against you, you can achieve your goals hold if you back yourself“, she added 

When Mirza was asked what are some of the commonalities when it comes to a mentor perspective? 

She replied that ” I think just handling pressure situations, embrace facing those situations. I think it’s very, very important because I think that if you’re not embracing the pressure, because pressure is a privilege, and if you don’t embrace it, you can’t actually excel at it. The biggest of champions in any sport are the ones that play best under pressure, then it’s not necessarily because they’re a better tennis, they’re a better cricketer, it’s just how they are at that given point of time“.

“So I think that aspect of it, the mental aspect of it, is which is something that I look forward to working with the younger girls because I feel like this is such an amazing opportunity for them.They’re playing at one of the biggest stages. And what IPL has done for the men’s cricket I mean, if that can be done for a women’s cricket”, further added India’s tennis superstar

She was asked So what would be few key points that she would like to drive in for team bonding ?

Mirza replied, “Well, to get to know each other, I think that is the first step. I think that team bonding and team building is very important I’ve played doubles for a big part of my career. Also, when we play the Asian game of the Olympics, we’re not naturally best friends with everybody that you’re playing with, and you don’t need to be. But you do need to have the same goal when you’re on the field or on the tennis court. You need to have have the same mental toughness“.

 “You cannot naturally be best friends with every person on the team,believe in the same one position that you want to reach You don’t need to be best friends.  but you need to have the same sort of goal in terms of where you want to be as a team and when you’re on the field“. concluded ace tennis player Mirza

RCB will be five teams in WPL 2023 that will be battling for the inaugural championship, the tournament is set to be held from March 6 to 24, 2023. The first ever organised Women’s T20 league by the India cricket board will be held in two venues in Mumbai, the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil stadium.

Also read: WPL 2023: Smriti Mandhana Likely To Lead RCB In Women’s Premier League 2023