Tennis queen Sania Mirza broke the stereotype over two decades back. When women’s tennis was seen as ‘too hard’ for the Indians, Mirza fought on clay courts, hard courts and grass, took on the big players, and came out with flying colours. To have come from a Muslim family in Hyderabad, something which amused the western world, Mirza broke the stereotype. And when Mirza, the super mom, retired in 2023, she had a rich collection of six Grand Slam titles — three women’s doubles and three mixed doubles trophies.

In an exclusive conversation with mid-day, Mirza, who has followed Indian cricket closely, was thrilled at Harmanpreet Kaur and the enthusiastic bunch winning the ICC World Cup at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on a rainy Sunday.