Gennext: Jemimah Rodrigues
Having tasted moderate success, Jemimah Rodrigues has understood the challenges of staying at the top and raising the profile of women’s cricket in a country that’s crazy for the game played her male counterparts.
Age: 17
From: Mumbai
Education: Pursuing HSC (Standard XII)
Discipline: Cricket
Beginning: She is still two months shy of getting a drivers’ license but the youngest of the three children to a couple that primarily runs coaching classes in suburban Mumbai has already built a reputation as one of the prospective driving forces of India women cricket’s batting. Welcome to the world of Jemimah Rodrigues.
At an age where most teenagers are confused about choosing a career path, Jemimah is on the threshold of dealing with options in plenty.
She is good in studies, excellent in hockey and a bril liant batter — an allrounder for that matter — on the cricket field. Academics has definitely taken a backseat over the last couple of years. As for hockey, with the cricketer in her having risen to high standards, the stickwork has been restricted to a stressbuster for her.
Just like the majority of female cricketers, Jemi — as she is fondly known — started following her two elder brothers to a cricket ground in the neighbourhood under the watchful eyes of Ivan, their father. Once she started bettering boys her age, it didn’t take time for the Mumbai women’s coaches and selectors to spot her. At 121/2 years, she was first selected in the Mumbai under19 girls’ team. At the same time, she was also on the verge of breaking into the U17 hockey team.
The aggressive opening batter continued her surge, with two innings at
the fag end of 2017 in the under19 zonal tournament in Aurangabad — 178 against Gujarat followed by a 202 versus Saurashtra — catapulting her into the India A setup. She impressed one and all in the big league and made her international debut during India’s tour to South Africa earlier this year. The Rodrigues household, just like the rest of the Indian women’s cricket fraternity, believes it’s just the beginning for Jemi.
Aim: She has achieved one of her biggest goals by making it to the highest echelons of the game. Having tasted moderate success, Jemimah has understood the challenges of staying at the top and raising the profile of women’s cricket in a country that’s crazy for the game played her male counterparts.
Strong point: “Desire to improve all the time is her forte. We keep discussing the finer points of her game in the evenings and at times I recite verses from the Bible to simplify some of the complex technical issues. It doesn’t take long for her to figure out her deficiencies and she quickly overcomes them,” says Ivan.