The roar and a very David Warner-esque celebration said it all. Earnestly religious, Jemimah Rodrigues isn’t usually the one with such striking displays of aggression or emotion on the cricket field. But this was special. So, after helping herself to a fifty, and India to a seven-wicket win in their 2023 T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan, Rodrigues spent an extra 10 seconds dedicating the knock to her supportive parents – her bat raised to their balcony seats at the Newlands – before including a patiently applauding Richa Ghosh in her celebrations.
Rodrigues was trudging around at about a run-a-ball until Ghosh joined her in the middle. Gentle taps, drives and harmless sweeps ensured she kept passing on the strike to her more fluent partners – Shafali Verma or Harmanpreet Kaur – even when she wasn’t exactly being able to dispatch the ball all the way to the ropes. The intent had been on display all along. But with her captain departing towards the end of an outstanding middle-overs spell of 2/15 from Nashra Sandhu and another 55 needed in 36, the well-set batter knew it was time to take charge. Aggression wasn’t necessarily the answer though.
Smart cricket has always been a hallmark of Rodrigues’ batting, whether it is pinching singles or toying with the field. With no fine leg in place, she moved across to the offside, luring Fatima Sana to bowl at the exposed stumps, as she went down on a knee to swivel it to the unmanned boundary. Rodrigues did so twice, while in the meantime Ghosh feasted on the wayward bowling of Aiman Anwer to fetch three consecutive fours and bring the equation down to 13 off 11 before turning over the strike.
Frustrated, Sana resorted to short-ball ploy but offered width. Rodrigues this time targeted the vacant third man region, made some more room, and slapped it over the fielder in the ring with a jump. She then drilled the next one through extra cover to seal the game with an over to spare.
That an asking rate of nearly 10 at the death didn’t really bother the fourth-wicket pair was where Pakistan fell behind, despite having bowled well up until that point in India’s record highest World Cup chase of 150. In part, it was down to the confidence and camaraderie both Rodrigues and Ghosh had built through a similar 92-run alliance in their last official warm-up against Bangladesh, after similarly losing key wickets early. Ghosh had led the way then with an unbeaten 91 off 56 and Rodrigues made a 27-ball 41 as India collected 132 runs in the second half of their innings to post an imposing total of 183.
“So, we knew any target was achievable as long as we both are there,” Rodrigues said of their approach on Sunday. “What we both were talking about was [we need] singles off every ball and whichever loose ball, which they will bowl, that is our bonus. So we ended up getting nine to 12 runs per over without doing anything [taking any risks]. That’s the conversation we are having. But yeah, we were very specific on which balls we needed to pick up and how we needed to play sensibly at the same time. We knew we had to take it through because we were well set.
“We were not bothered much about the picture of 150 runs. We were more bothered about how we can achieve the smaller targets to get to the bigger target. We were targeting bowlers, definitely, there was a lot of talk and conversation happening… We were constantly looking at the scoreboard and we knew which bowler we can go after, which bowler we needed to play a little sensibly because they were also bowling really well and not giving us a lot of easy options. The wicket was also on the slower side and sort of helping their spinners. So we knew we just needed to be sensible and play smartly, and that’s what we did and I’m glad that the results were in our favour,” she added.
The maturity to tackle these tough situations has shone through in each of her nine contributions of 30+ since the comeback last year. In all fairness though, Rodrigues had only missed an inconsequential one-off T20I India played in New Zealand when the focus was all on the 2022 ODI World Cup. But this time last year, the India top-order batter was nursing the heartbreak from a World Cup snub that made her return seem that much longer and hard-earned.
The support and backing of family, friends and teammates came to the rescue when she “wasn’t in a good headspace”. A break helped too. And to eventually snap out of it, a distraught Rodrigues changed her approach to practice and planning. Challenging herself to get out of the comfort zone helped rediscover the joy in cricket again – a journey she said she ‘wouldn’t change anything’ about even if given the chance to.
“Honestly, many a times I had nothing to tell myself,” she admitted candidly to the reporters in Cape Town. “There were so many times I’d given up, I didn’t have the strength to carry [on]… But [even] when I didn’t believe in myself, I was blessed to have people who believed in me and gave me the strength to push through that time.”
Together with her coach Prashant Shetty and her father Ivan Rodrigues, the 22-year old worked out a plan to get more game time under belt by playing at least two matches a week against local U-19 boys’ side. Those games wouldn’t be on flat tracks readily available but instead at Mumbai’s cluttered and mismanaged Azad Maidan which, in the morning, offered almost soggy pitches that would drastically morph into rank-turners by the time of second innings.
“It was challenging conditions… and [against] good quality bowlers. But, you know, those little runs – in the first game I scored some 45-odd runs – gave me a lot of confidence. It was like scoring an 80-something on a flat track. So putting myself in such challenging situations actually helped me getting out of my comfort zone.
“I even played against the U-14 boys before the domestic season and that brought it’s own pressure… ‘being an India player playing with under-14 boys if I lose my wicket’, you know? I’m being very honest, those were the thoughts in my head at that time. That was a lot of pressure but I had to fight through those thoughts too. But I believe all these little things just build up to make you the player [you are]. And I am grateful for everything that happened.
