Important to take women's sport forward in our part of the world: Sania Mirza

India's tennis queen Sania Mirza has expressed her delight over the launch of the Women's Premier League.

The BCCI announced the 5 franchises for the WPL on Wednesday, bagging a whopping ₹4669.99 CR for giving away the team ownership rights.

Sania, a tennis icon in India, is currently in Melbourne for the Australian Open. She reached the final of the mixed doubles event in her farewell Grand Slam.

Speaking to the press after her semi-final triumph alongside compatriot Rohan Bopanna, Sania said tournaments like WPL will help encourage young girls to take up sports as a viable career.

"It's obviously great. We're on the way up. I think it's amazing to have women. Obviously, 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. It's good to know. I had no idea that happened actually. I'm pleasantly surprised. We have some huge stars in women's cricket now as well who are carrying that torch," she said.

She added, "I think we've spoken about this so much, about taking women's sport forward, especially in our part of the world where we still I don't think sport is the most natural course of a career that they choose, young girls, right, especially parents. 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."

Also read: Women's IPL: BCCI announces 5 franchises after combined bid valuation of ₹4669.99 CR