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Former Indian tennis player Sania Mirza is currently working as a mentor for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team in the Women's Premier League. She became the first non-cricket athlete to join a WPL franchise as a support staff member.
Sania Mirza has been following cricket for a long time now. Back in 2012, the tennis ace was spotted cheering for the now-defunct IPL franchise Pune Warriors. Incidentally, she went to RCB's home venue M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to cheer for Pune against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mirza attended the match along with Shoaib Malik on April 17, 2012. Photos of the couple attending the match surfaced on the internet soon after.
It was a thrilling game, where Chris Gayle's 48-ball 81 helped the Royal Challengers Bangalore beat the Pune Warriors by six wickets with zero balls to spare.
Sania's presence in the RCB dressing room for WPL 2023 has been a talking point in Indian cricketing circles. Some fans have even blamed her for the Royal Challengers Bangalore's five consecutive losses in the Women's Premier League.
Why did Sania Mirza join RCB as a mentor in WPL 2023?
Cricket fans across the world were surprised to see a tennis player in a cricket team's backroom staff. Soon after her appointment as the Royal Challengers Bangalore's mentor in WPL 2023, Sania Mirza had a chat with India Today, where she shared the reason behind joining RCB.
The Bangalore-based franchise offered her the position so that she could help the younger players of the team with her experience. Mirza was surprised with the offer, but accepted it as she felt it was her way of giving it back to the female athletes of India.
"This is sort of my way of giving it back to the younger female athletes of our country, in helping them in whatever way possible. So I was really excited about this opportunity. I am looking forward to starting to work with them," Sania had said.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be in action tonight against the Gujarat Giants. It will be interesting to see if RCB can avenge their previous defeat against the Gujarat franchise.
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