Having been roped in as a team mentor, Tennis legend Sania Mirza is confident that she can help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) women cricketers to deal with the mental aspect of things in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL).

While the WPL 2023 got underway on March 4 with the clash between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians, RCB – led by India opener Smriti Mandhana – will open their campaign against Delhi Capitals on Sunday (March 5).

“I know nothing about cricket. I thought (when I was made mentor) what I am going to do, what am I going to talk to the girls. I recently retired, last week actually. So I was thinking what’s my next step in life. So my next step was to try and help women athletes around and in India,” Sania said while speaking to the RCB squad, a video of which has been posted on the franchise’s official Twitter handle.

“In any sport, to help with the mental aspect of things which I have been through for the last 20 years,” she added.

Sania Mirza called time on her Tennis career after the ATP Dubai Open last month.

When a player asked how hard it was for her to retire, Sania said: “I was actually ready. I have a son who is 4 and honestly the last one year has been a struggle. I had three surgeries. I just thought it was good to go out on top. I just wanted to stop.”

Talking about her role, Sania said it will be to help the RCB in their journey towards maiden WPL title.

“I was in individual sport, so photo shoot, media attention everything I handled on my own, so I thought ok I can actually give something to the girls,” she said. “It’s normal to feel the pressure but you just have to know how to deal with it, block the noise a little bit and Indian media is tough.”

Citing that struggle is part and parcel of every sportsperson’s life, Sania reminded the RCB players of their goals behind taking up cricket as a sport.

“There is struggle in everything. We didn’t use to get courts, we used to cow dung based courts. We didn’t have coaches. The coaches who were there were not experts. Then there is normal struggle of girls,” she said.

“Our job as an athlete is to inspire the next generation. You are only as good as how you perform on that day. The champions are the ones who are not winning all the time, the champions are the ones who are winning when they are not playing well.

“You have to remember why you started playing cricket, because you love the game,” she concluded.

(With PTI Inputs)