When Jemimah Rodrigues made her international debut for India at the age of 17 against South Africa in February 2018, there were high expectations from her to continue Mumbai’s rich legacy of producing exceptional batsmen. Since then, Jemima has successfully overcome many challenges to establish herself as a premier batsman in the national set-up. She has also become a familiar face in various T20 franchise leagues, with Jemimah’s numbers having increased significantly since her international debut.
Jemimah credits her growth as a person on and off the field to her participation in the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in England – her first appearance in an overseas T20 league. The numbers were extraordinary – 401 runs at an average of 57.28 and a strike rate of 149.62, including 112 not out off 58 balls.
Apart from her performance on the field as a number four batsman, rather than batting in the top three, the experience of living alone abroad for a month changed young Jemimah in positive ways. “I was just 18 years old when I traveled abroad alone. I had to do everything myself – from washing my own clothes to cooking my own food, living in an apartment and traveling for sports, apart from managing money and everything.’
“So that experience changed me a lot, because I was not used to being alone in anything. Even in the Indian team, I was like the kid of the team, I was loved and taken care of, and I knew everyone. But then this was a completely new thing – at times I felt very isolated and alone. But it changed me a lot as a person and made me more independent.”
“At the same time, I felt strong in the sense that I was very young, and it was not easy for me to be alone for a whole month. It changed a lot and helped me play leagues, and I did really well there and later in all the other leagues like The Hundred, WBBL and WPL,” Jemimah had earlier said in a conversation with IANS. A month during a shoot for a clothing brand in New Delhi.
Despite the constant buzz around the club versus country debate and the competition for a place in the hectic international schedule in franchise leagues, Jemimah finds great joy in rubbing shoulders with the best in the business and gaining invaluable experience, even if it is in T20 cricket. Represent any team in the league.
“When we play in the dressing room with England and South Africa players, because that’s what the WPL, WCPL and all these tournaments do – they give you exposure, learn a lot. Also when we share the dressing room we are able to understand their minds and it is not just us who learn from them – they also learn a lot from us.
Another key quality that the bubbly and easy-going Jemima has learned from playing in the T20 league is immense calmness, especially from her Delhi Capitals captain during two seasons of the WPL, Australia’s five-time World Cup-winning captain Meg Lanning.
“The way she leads the team, and remains very calm under pressure – that’s something I will really learn from her. She just knows what she is doing and that helps her remain calm under pressure, which I think is one of the biggest qualities of a captain. This is because at the end of the day everyone is under pressure, but if you see your captain calm, there is something about it that calms the whole team down.
In this year’s Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL), Jemimah turned out for Trinbago Knight Riders along with Indian teammate Shikha Pandey and Australia’s left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen. The trio played for Delhi Capitals in this year’s WPL and will reunite for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), a prospect Jemimah calls ‘crazy’.
In the tournament, where Jemimah scored 105 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 108.24, scoring an unbeaten 59 off 50, TKR sealed a four-wicket win over Barbados Royals with two balls to spare on a slow Trinidad wicket. Confidence to finish matches, a skill India will need more of during the T20 World Cup in the UAE next month.
“Each innings was very important. It teaches you a lot more. Yes, that was not officially a semi-final but actually a semi-final for our team. So that really gave me a lot of encouragement and confidence, because there is nothing like finishing a match for the team and winning it and helping them reach the finals. But adapting well and performing well in those conditions gave me a lot of confidence in knowing how to play on different surfaces.”
While the UAE is a venue that does not regularly host women’s T20 games, Jemimah does not feel it is a completely unknown entity for the Indian team, as several players in the team have featured in the Women’s T20 Challenge in Sharjah in 2020. Have played.
Once the tournament begins on October 3, India will resume their quest to win their first Women’s T20 World Cup title. Jemimah revealed that the Indian team’s discussion is more around focusing on their strengths and not thinking about what their Group A rivals like Australia and Sri Lanka are likely to do in the competition.
Last year, India gave a strong fight in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, but fell five runs short of defeating Australia in Cape Town. But in that tournament, Jemima gave a great start to India by scoring unbeaten 53 runs in 38 balls in pressure situations and achieved India’s most successful run-chase in the history of Women’s T20 World Cup.
In the lead up to that game, Jemimah did not have any major innings to her name. So, it is understandable that Jemimah was nervous the night before the clash against Pakistan, a match which brings extra pressure on both teams.
“I was not in the best form and then came the big game against Pakistan – the whole world was watching, especially India. You know how the India-Pakistan rivalry is – all the janitors in the building come and say to me, ‘Whether you win the World Cup or not, you guys don’t lose against Pakistan.’ Will have to lose against Pakistan).”
“To ease her nervousness, Jemima followed her usual routine of going out for a walk. On the way out, she stopped, looked up and said, ‘Thank you Jesus, at the same time last year I was in the ODI World Cup. “I just thanked them for it and it changed my perspective – I’m grateful for where I was and the journey wasn’t easy.”
Twelve months ago, Jemima was dropped from India’s ODI World Cup squad, a phase she still called a difficult and most challenging moment to live through. Now, in Cape Town, close to playing the T20 World Cup, Jemimah remembers God, who was her pillar of strength in dark times.
“That gave me a lot of encouragement – like ‘Okay, I was down but God picked me up and I’ve done it before, I can do it again.’ So I think that was one of the first things that came to my mind and then going there, my parents saw the live India-Pakistan match in the stadium for the first time.
“Raising the bat towards him was even more special because more than anything, he supported me during that time. No matter what, they believed in me, even when no one believed in me, they were always there.
With the support of her parents Ivan (who is also her coach) and Lavita, who were present at the Newlands cricket ground for the clash against Pakistan, as well as coach Prashant Shetty, Jemimah managed to overcome a difficult time . The architect of India’s victory in South Africa, a day before the fifth anniversary of his international debut.
“So that was special and what was even more special was that exactly the next day it was five years for me playing international cricket on the same ground that I played on in 2018. I have a similar jump shot and if Looking back at where I was at that time, it’s pretty special to see how far I’ve come and how far God has brought me. I had no idea I was taking that same leap, But someone put it on social media and I was like, ‘Oh damn.’
In the shortest format, Jemimah has primarily been a top-order batsman, but she could play at number five in the upcoming T20 World Cup. She attributes this to the team’s belief that she is capable of making a big difference for India there, as evidenced by her half-century in 29 balls against South Africa at that venue in Chennai.
He also believes that excelling at number five in T20 is all about adapting to the conditions and the mindset also remains the same. “I am just trying to be a little more aggressive and positive because sometimes the conditions at number five are very different from three, because there it is more that you build innings, build partnerships, run runs and pace and Let’s do everything to set the pace.”
“At five, you already know the situation and you have to take whatever comes from there. So I am working a lot on it, like getting all out from the first ball because sometimes in the match, you may need six runs on one ball and I want to be ready for that on five.
Going after the bowlers is not part of Jemimah’s natural game, as she relies more on her impeccable timing while using the crease to control the bowlers. If necessary, perform your pulls and slog-sweeps effortlessly against the spinners.
In WPL 2024, Jemimah played more powerful shots to clear the fence, which was seen in her overall tally of eight sixes and a healthy strike-rate of 153.59. She emphasizes that the power-influencer side of her work is still ongoing.
“I probably have to put in a lot more effort than others, because my game is more around manipulating time and intervals. I’m glad to see that it’s coming along at the right time, so I continue to work on it. My father always tells me that you don’t need to be a strong person to score runs. You just have to have a head and do things your own way, and that’s one of the best advice I got and I try to stick to that.
“She also looks at the charismatic and match-winning Virat Kohli for inspiration, as he too is not a big six-hitter but is adept at timing and distributing gaps to bat well in T20. Our batting style is quite similar. It is not that Virat Kohli cannot hit sixes, but whenever he hits sixes, he hits them in the gap, so even if he goes wrong, he can still get four or two runs and maybe one. He may also get runs, but he will not be caught out.
“So he plays very smart cricket and that’s what I try to add to my game. More than anything, I just stick to my process and the style that suits me, like he runs well between the wickets, builds his innings, and likes to work hard through it.
Other aspects of the Indian team that will be keenly watched in the T20 World Cup are fielding and fitness, which head coach Amol Majumdar has said is non-negotiable. Jemima talked about how a recent camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) focused on fitness and fielding, with the bat barely touched.
She also cites strength and conditioning trainer Anand Date, fielding coach Munish Bali and other support staff members for helping her become the best in these two skills. On July 4, a crowd of supporters filled Mumbai’s Marine Drive to celebrate India’s T20 World Cup win, as Rohit Sharma & Co.’s open-top bus arrived at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium with the gleaming trophy. Greeted fans on the way.
Jemimah dreams that if her team wins the title at the Dubai International Stadium on October 20, she will get a similar welcome at home. Since her name means ‘dove’ in Hebrew, one can expect Jemimah to play vivacious, inventive, and athletic. Played an important role in India winning its first Women’s T20 World Cup.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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