Jemimah Rodrigues: Boys cricket pressure on Mumbai maidans fueled World Cup heroics

Jemimah Rodrigues likes how her life is going right now, but credits her turnaround to some turners on Mumbai’s maidans. She went from “one of the lowest phases” of her life after being left out of the 50-over World Cup to a tension-easing half-century as India began the 20-over version with a victory against Pakistan.

After their opponents set them 150 to win, Rodrigues’ unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 58 with Richa Ghosh gave India a seven-wicket triumph.

They got there with one over to spare, and Rodrigues, who scored a 38-ball 53 not out, said that playing alongside 14-year-old boys in Mumbai after being dropped from last year’s squad exposed her to the kind of pressure needed to help India complete its most successful run-chase in a Women’s T20 World Cup.

“I’d taken a sabbatical when I returned to my coach Prashant Shetty and my father,” Rodrigues explained. “We devised a strategy. I had two games in a week, more match time, the rest was practise, and Sunday was my day off. I was placing myself in difficult situations at the same time.

“I wasn’t playing on flat wickets, but on turning wickets. During that time, I went to Azad Maidan in Mumbai and played matches against the boys. There’s so much dew in the morning, this big ground, so many pitches, nobody covers the ground – you can put your finger inside the pitch. I had to play under-19 boys in those circumstances.

“It’s turning square and good quality bowlers in the second innings. I hit 45-odd runs in the opening game of the tournament, which is equivalent to scoring 80 on a flat track and gives you a lot of confidence. So immersing yourself in such situations aided me in breaking out of my comfort zone. It was the most difficult aspect.

“I played with boys aged 14 and under. Imagine the strain I’m under as an India player playing with under-14 boys; if I lose my wicket, ‘kya hai ye’ [what is she even?]. That’s exactly what’s going through my mind. That was a lot of pressure, but I had to go through it.

“But I feel all these little things just stack up and make you the player you are, and I am grateful for everything that happened. You allow me to go back and fix things. Nothing would be changed. “I’m happy with how my life is turning out.”

Rodrigues was left out of the squad for the New Zealand 50-over competition after failing to reach double digits in five ODI innings in 2021, her previous outing in the format being in July of that year. During that time, her best T20I score was 49 not out from five games, but she had a resurgence last year, averaging 38.58 from 20 matches.

However, it took a lot of hard effort and a lot of support from family, friends, team members, and Shetty to help her get through the tough moments.

“Honestly, there were occasions when I had nothing to say to myself,” Rodrigues admitted. “I’d given up so many times that I didn’t have the strength to continue.

“I modified my technique. I altered the way I planned my innings. My game became clearer to me. I realised the value of solid relationships at the time, and it felt like it was one of the lowest points in my life, but it turned out to be the reason I could come here today.

“It was exactly this time last year when I was home and I wasn’t in a good mentality since I was dropped from the 50-over World Cup. That was the most difficult time for me. If it weren’t for my family, my parents, and my brothers, and there are so many people I can’t name them all, we’d be sitting here until 12 o’clock at night. There were so many people that assisted me during this difficult period.”

Rodrigues hit three fours in the final over to secure victory at Newlands on Sunday, in front of a good-natured crowd whose fervent roaring belied its modest number – 3,578 during India’s innings.

“When I came out today, I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone,” she explained. “Many times, when you make a comeback at the World Cup, you want to prove a lot or this or that. I’ve tried it before and it doesn’t work for me. So I told myself, “I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.” I’d done well and that’s why I’m here, I’d performed and that’s why I’m back in the team. So I was extremely confident in that, and when I was batting out there, all I could think about was how I could assist India win.”

With injured opener Smriti Mandhana out, India fell to 65 for 2 before losing captain Harmanpreet Kaur for just 16. Ghosh, a member of India’s Under-19 squad that won the country’s first World Cup in Women’s cricket, batted a composed 31 not out off 20 balls to assist Rodrigues in delivering the win.

India is determined to turn their adolescent success into a senior crown after finishing second to Australia in the T20 final three years ago and, more recently, by nine runs at the Commonwealth Games. In the latter, Rodrigues and Harmanpreet shared a 96-run stand to put India in contention for the gold medal, and she expressed a sense of unfinished business on this side.

“There is no such thing as a closed chapter,” she explained. “The Commonwealth was still in its infancy… We had a terrific partnership, but I lost my wicket at the worst possible time. That still bothers me. I feel it still haunts our team because our bowling attack deserves credit for limiting that team to 165 (161 for 8) on that day against a full-blooded Australian side.

“It’s all about learning. If not now, it will most certainly happen in the future, and we are prepared for it. Perhaps this will prepare our team for something larger and better that awaits us in the future.”