India’s tennis icon Sania Mirza has been appointed as the mentor of Royal Challengers Bangalore women’s team in the Women’s Premier League.
The official Twitter account of RCB confirmed the development on Wednesday. “The pioneer in Indian sports for women, a youth icon, someone who has played Bold and broken barriers throughout her career, and a champion on and off the field. We are proud to welcome Sania Mirza as the mentor of the RCB women’s cricket team,” the RCB wrote.
“I was a little surprised but I was excited. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been a professional athlete for 20 years. My next job is to try and help young women and young girls believe that sports can be one of the first career choices for them,” Mirza said in a chat with RCB after her appointment.
When asked about what she would bring on board for the Royal Challengers, Mirza stated that handling pressure is a key to any sport and she will work with the players on their mental aspect.
“(There are) so much commonalities (between cricket and tennis). Every athlete thinks the same way, they go through same kind of pressure. Just handling pressure situations, embracing them is very important. Pressire is a privelege, if you can’t embrace it, you can’t excel at it. The biggest of champions are those who can handle the pressure,” Mirza said.
“That aspect of it, the mentla aspect is something I look forward to working with the girls. What IPL has done for men’s cricket, if that can be done for women’s cricket, playing sport can become a natural option for young girls.”
In the WPL auction that took place on February 13, RCB made history with the highest buy as they roped in Smriti Mandhana for INR 3.4 crore; the side also bought Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, and Richa Ghosh among other star names.