If the news that Sania Mirza is seriously contemplating to skip the Bangalore Open and maybe all future tournaments in India were to be true, it would be a tragedy for Indian sport. I say tragedy because let’s face the facts. Besides cricket, sport in India has very few genuine stars and household names. And Sania is not just a star, her appeal far transcends that. She is a role model and an icon to millions of little girls in a country where women sports stars can be counted on the fingertips of one hand.

Expectations of her have very often been unrealistically high and sometimes she is expected to pulverise every opponent into submission, even if it happens to be one of the Williams sisters across the net. But more than that I really feel sorry for her, because at times her national commitment has been questioned and she has been strangled by the religious issues surrounding her attire and endorsements.

Now I don’t really want to go into all that, but it just seems so unfair and inappropriate that a player who everyone can clearly see gives it her all on the court has to face questions on her commitment to the nation and to the game, and also confront controversies on her choice of attire.

All I can say is that I really wish that Sania does play the Bangalore Open and in fact plays every tournament in India, because every young girl with a tennis racquet in her hand and stars in her eyes needs someone like Sania to show her the way.

... contd.