Jemimah Rodrigues
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Personal life
Stress
Gaurav.Gupta, Nov 1, 2025: The Times of India
Navi Mumbai: Soon after she played the innings of her life — a brilliant unbeaten 127 off 134 balls — to script India’s five-wicket win over giants Australia in the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday night, Jemimah Rodrigues, overwhelmed by emotion, broke down several times during the post-match press conference.
The 25-year-old Bandra girl opened up on the mental battle she had faced over the past month, revealing she had been suffering from severe anxiety leading up to her maiden World Cup century. She said people who suffer from severe anxiety issues should not be afraid to ask for help.
Describing a period in her life that left her “numb” and often in tears, Jemimah said she hoped her story will help others with similar struggles.
‘When you’re dropped, you have doubts’
Grateful To Those Who Believed In Me, Understood Me: Jemimah
I’ll be very vulnerable here because if someone watching this is going through the same thing, that’s my whole purpose of saying it. Nobody likes to talk about their weakness. I was going through a lot of anxiety at the start of the tournament,” she said, pausing repeatedly as tears welled up.
She thanked a few of her teammates for standing by her during that phase. “It (anxiety) was a lot. Before a few games, I used to call my mom and cry the whole time, just to let it out. When you’re going through anxiety, you just feel numb. You don’t know what to do, you’re just trying to be yourself. My mum and dad supported me a lot. And there was Arundhati (Reddy) — I think I’ve cried in front of her almost every day. Later, I joked, ‘Don’t come near me or I’ll start crying!’ But she checked on me every single day.”
“Smriti (Mandhana) helped me too. She knew what I was going through. A few net sessions, she would just stand there. Even yesterday, she came and just stood there because she knew her presence meant a lot to me. Then there’s Radha (Yadav), who’s always been there taking care of me. I’m so blessed to have friends I can call family. It’s okay to ask for help.”
Playing her first ODI World Cup, Jemimah began the tournament with modest scores of 0, 32, 0 and 33. Things worsened when she was dropped for the match against England in Indore, as India opted for an extra bowler. “That really hit me. When you’re dropped, you have a lot of doubts. I always want to contribute to the team, but that day I couldn’t do much sitting out. When I came back, the pressure was even greater,” she said.
Returning to the XI for the crucial league match against New Zealand at DY Patil, Jemimah struck an unbeaten 76 off 55 balls to guide India to victory — and rediscovered her rhythm. “My family went through a lot, but they stood by me and believed in me when I couldn’t. Sometimes all you need to do is hang in there and things fall into place. I’m very grateful to those who believed in me and understood me, because I couldn’t have done this alone.”
During her century in the semifinal, Jemimah was often seen dropping to her knees — moments she said were silent prayers.
“I was praying. I was talking to myself because I’d lost a lot of energy and was feeling very tired. Because of that, I played a few loose shots — it was a tricky phase. I was wondering, ‘Should I go for it now? Or take it deep?’ The learning was to stay there. Towards the end, we could always take it deep,” she said.
“I was talking to God because I feel I have a personal relationship with Him. When I can’t carry myself, He always carries me.”
Jemimah was dropped twice — on 82 and 106 — but never lost focus, anchoring India’s record chase of 339. Batting at No.3, she came in after just nine balls and stayed till the end. “How do I rate this innings? Honestly, I haven’t let it sink in. I didn’t play for my hundred, or to prove a point at No.3. I just played to make sure India won. That was my only motivation. When you play for the team, not yourself, I think God also favours you,” she said, smiling through tears.
Rodrigues revealed that during the team meeting on the eve of the semifinal, she had declared her goal — to finish the game. “We were discussing what we could do better, and I said, ‘I want to be there till the end and finish the game.’ Whether batting first or chasing, I knew if I stayed, we’d get those extra 20–30 runs because I run well and find unusual gaps. If we were chasing, I wanted to make sure I took the team through. The last month wasn’t easy, but it just felt like everything was a setup for this moment.”
Even after India lost both openers early, Jemimah revived the chase with a 167-run stand with Harmanpreet Kaur (89). When Harman fell in the 36th over, the pressure intensified. “I was telling Harry di (Harmanpreet) that we both had to finish it. When she got out, it was almost a blessing in disguise — I was losing focus from tiredness, but her dismissal added responsibility. I told myself, ‘Okay, she’s out, I’ll score for her.’ That got me back into the right zone,” she said. Jemimah said India were not daunted by the mammoth target. “We knew we’d done it against this team before. I felt with the way Australia started, they were 30 runs short. DY Patil is such a pitch — any score is chaseable. My thought process was simple: I just had to be there.”
2018
A noteworthy debut
Anil Dias, Jemimah showed on debut that she belongs, November 11, 2018: The Times of India
From: January 11, 2018: Hindustan Times
When an 18-year-old scores a 45-ball 59 in her first ICC Women’s World T20 match, it calls for celebration. More so, when she becomes the youngest to get a fifty in the tournament. For Mumbai teen sensation Jemimah Rodrigues though, it seemed routine.
Playing against New Zealand in the tournament opener in Providence, Guyana, Jemimah set up India’s innings wonderfully, enabling skipper Harmanpreet Kaur to become the first Indian woman to score a T20I hundred. The duo stitched together a record 134-run partnership for the fourth wicket after India were in a spot of bother at 40-3 in 5.4 overs.
While Harmanpreet walked away with the accolades, young Jemimah’s role should not be forgotten. She played with a maturity beyond her years, choosing to go after the bowling initially, and was then content with rotating the strike once the captain decided to switch gears.
It was such maturity that her dad Ivan — who has coached her since she was a toddler — is immensely proud of. She has indeed come a long way from picking up the bat the age of 3, making the extremely difficult decision of choosing cricket over hockey at the age of 12 (she was selected for the Maharashtra U-17 and U-19 hockey teams) to becoming one of the key members of the senior national team at 17.
T20 cricket is all about aggressive strokeplay. For the diminutive Jemimah, clearing the ropes is quite a challenge. She may have grown up playing with her two older brothers in their home in Bhandup — before they moved to Bandra when she was in Standard 3 — but brashness and power-hitting don’t seem to be her forte. “It’s something (power-hitting) we’ve been working on for quite some time, especially in the past year,” Ivan told TOI.
For a week in October when she was home, Ivan decided to concentrate on that aspect of her batting. While she would train at the Mumbai Cricket Association academy in the morning with the senior women cricketers, Ivan would take her to the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra later in the evening to train with boys.
“At the MIG, she would train at the centre wicket which helped her judge the ball well, making her more confident of going for the big shots. Initially, when she batted against boys’ bowling pace, she took some time to settle in before completely middling the ball. Now she’s more confident,” said Ivan.
