Why Indranil Das Blah is angry with the detractors of Sania Mirza

SANIA MIRZA is ranked World No.1 in women's tennis for doubles. Now that is not good enough for a lot of people. Like everyone who feels that winning and being the champion in doubles is hardly something you boast about, as singles is the real thing. Indranil Das Blah, Founding Partner of CAA Kwan and CEO of Mumbai City FC, strongly feels otherwise. He decided that a "Tuesday morning rant" on his Facebook page was necessary to put things in perspective for the naysayers:

"My Tuesday morning rant.

As a nation, we tend to love bringing successful people down, judge them and belittle their achievements. They may start off as favourites and sweethearts, but the tide often turns quickly and without warning. I have seen this multiple times with our sportspeople; and no one is spared. It could be cricketers like Sachin (oh why doesn’t he retire, he is being selfish), Dhoni (he’s done, he can’t finish anymore) or our boxers like Vijender (he sold out by becoming pro, he doesn’t care about the country).

But I write this to bring to our attention the treatment of arguably the greatest Indian sportswomen of all time, Sania Mirza. Several former Indian tennis legends and journalists have gone on record saying doubles is easy, it’s no big deal, our success in doubles is actual detrimental to our success in singles. This I find extremely annoying and unfair. Let me state why.

I don’t care what anyone says but being no. 1 in any sport takes guts, talent and a whole lot of hard work. And this is tennis, for crying out aloud. More than 200 countries play the sport. We celebrate when India wins the Cricket World Cup, which is played by a maximum of 14-15 nations. We celebrate when we become no. 1 in Tests, which is played by 11-12 nations. Then why can’t we celebrate the fact that Sania is number one is a sport played across the world? I know I felt a sense of achievement when I made it first in anything and I’m sure that holds true for most of us.

Not only has she been number one for a while, she has dominated women’s doubles for more than a year now. This girl has won nine tournaments this year. Nine! Out of which the last four have been on the trot. Which means she has won 18 matches in a row along with Hingis. The last time this happened in women’s doubles was in 2012. Let the stats do the talking.

Doubles is easier than singles. Sure it is. But what’s stopping other tennis players from picking up the low hanging fruit and competing in doubles if it was that easy? It’s a choice everyone has and it’s a choice Sania made, and with incredible success. We talk about the undoubtedly great achievements of Leander and Mahesh. Sania is quickly picking up that mantle and maybe, just maybe, it’s time to recognise that.

And while this doubles - singles debate rages on, let’s not forget the fact that this Hyderabadi came from literally nowhere and rose as high as no. 27 in the WTA singles rankings. Do any one of you know what’s the next best singles ranking achieved by an Indian woman? Well, I don’t!

We’ve had Vijay Amritraj and Ramanathan Krishnan who shone bright in the singles department in the past, but never have we had a female sportsperson create such an impact as Sania did in 2004. She was and is a trail-blazer and a role model. She was and continues to be the single reason behind most parents getting their kids to pick up tennis rackets, much like what Saina Nehwal did with badminton almost a decade later.

My point is, let’s give credit where it’s due. Sania has spent pretty much all her life on the road, living out of a suitcase, taking early morning flights, checking in and out of multiple hotels, not being able to eat what she wants, and training and competing without much of a break. She has sacrificed a lot of things we take for granted to become the doubles world No. 1. Let’s not take that away from her. She has earned her success and more importantly, she deserves her success.

And like I said, if being no. 1 was that simple in anything, we would all be champions. But are we?"

Sirji, well served! It's Advantage Sania!!!