WPL: Sania Mirza confident parents will encourage daughters to take up sports

India lawn tennis great Sania Mirza has lauded the BCCI's move to start the Women's Indian Premier League and has expressed her belief that parents will definitely encourage their daughters to take up sports professionally.

Sania Mirza is currently paired up with Rohan Bopanna and will be playing in the Australian Open mixed-doubles finals, and would be hoping to finish on a high before her official retirement.

“We’ve had so many male cricket stars from our side of the world. To have women stars as well is something, that’s the way forward really. I’m pleasantly surprised. We have some huge stars in women’s cricket now as well who are carrying that torch,” she said after moving into the Australian Open mixed doubles final, alongside Rohan Bopanna, on Wednesday, January 25.

Sania Mirza has been known to be very prominent, be it voicing out her opinions strongly for the upliftment of women's sports, or herself setting examples by becoming an established player in lawn tennis. The 36-year-old returned to professional tennis after giving birth to her son Izhaan, thus setting an example that women after becoming mothers can and should definitely continue with their sporting profession.

Also, Sania went on to add that the introduction of the WPL will motivate parents to willingly encourage their daughters to take up any sport of their choice professionally. Young girls will not have to face the social stigma of being reprimanded for indulging in "masculine activities".

“It’s amazing maybe this kind of stuff helps parents also encourage their young girls to take sport as a career. It’s not just, ‘Oh, my God, what are you doing going and playing like boys’ sort of situation. You can actually say, ‘you’re playing like a girl," the tennis star concluded.

It is to be noted that the first edition of this league is likely to take place in March, as per the tentative schedule given by the officials.

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