Follow UsFollowing a 42 in the opening game of the Women’s Premier League 2024, Jemimah Rodrigues failed to muster enough momentum to manage 7 and 0 apart from an unbeaten four-run knock. Those two failures cast severe doubt on her credentials as a premier modern-day batter, but she answered all questions in style when she thwarted Mumbai Indians for 69 runs off just 33 balls.
She seemed in complete control of the proceedings and unlike the last two games, she seemed quite happy during her stay in the middle. She attributed that state of mind to having conversations with people close to her, including RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana and her father.
"I think those two failures actually gave me a lot of learning” Rodrigues said in the post-match press conference. "In the sense that I was trying to play something I was not, just trying to go there and hit because I just wanted to keep the tempo going. Or, you know, sometimes just seeing everyone around you go there and go 'bang, bang' and thinking I also need to do it for the team.
"But, I've spoken to Arundhati Reddy and she helped me a lot. Then, Larris [Laura Harris] in our team, she was actually the one who during that innings when I was sitting down with her she said 'you have such good hands, you maneuver the field so well. Just stick to that, that'll help you.
“After that game, Smriti messaged me, 'just don't try to be someone else, be a Jemimah Rodrigues and you'll be fine'. And then after that I spoke to my dad and he insisted the same, that 'you just play your game, just be positive and and just be you. You find the gaps effortlessly. The people who hit up that's their strength, but no one can pick gaps the way you can pick gaps. So if you just stick to your strengths, it's going to help you a lot'.
"And today, even before walking into the field, Lisa came to me and said the same thing. 'I know, I can understand how it feels when you see everyone around you going a certain way. But just sticking to your strengths is going to help the team and is going to help you because you are a very valuable member for our team'. And I think just those conversations just helped me so much and I'm so blessed to have so many nice people around me to help me and also my DC team," the Mumbaikar added.
The WPL caravan moved to Delhi for the second leg and this was the first time people in Delhi witnessed the premier Indian Women’s cricket competition. While the atmosphere in Bengaluru was nothing short of electric, Delhi was slightly reticent, but great nonetheless. Jemimah Rodrigues applauded the people for coming in numbers and supporting the home team.
"I loved the atmosphere. Finally, we get to play on our home ground because we played in Mumbai (last season), in Bengaluru earlier, but now finally in Delhi. The crowd always gets me going, they keep me pumped up and I really take energy from them. Every time I was going to the boundary they were cheering, they were asking for dance moves. It was a nice experience out there," the 23-year old added.
Delhi Capitals will lock horns with UP Warriorz in their next match of the WPL 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.