Follow UsThe Women’s Premier League continues to be a path-breaking tournament for the rise of women’s cricket’s profile in India and what has been even more exciting is the way Indian players have lapped up to the format. The likes of Sabbhineni Meghana, Shafali Verma, and Yastika Bhatia have been batting with a kind of freedom never seen before.
Add to the list a certain Jemimah Rodrigues, who lit up the Arun Jaitley Stadium with an innings that left defending champions Mumbai Indians dazed. Following a blockbuster innings from skipper Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals’ No.4 Jemimah Rodrigues scored a stunning 69 off 33 balls which virtually knocked Mumbai out of the game.
"Definitely, Jemi played a quality knock. It was nice watching her bat, but not against us,” Mumbai Indians bowling coach and mentor, Jhulan Goswami said in the post-match press conference. “Jokes apart, the way she built her innings was a treat to watch. We can learn a lot from her innings. A good day for her and a bad day for our bowlers as we didn’t execute our plans properly.
“In 2017-18, she was a young kid in the team in the Indian team. She is a mature cricketer now. She has a lot of control now and her shot selection has improved. What I enjoy about Jemi is that she is down to earth and likes to learn new things. Good to see her batting in the competition so far.”
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Chasing an insurmountable target of 193 runs, Mumbai Indians lost early wickets, being reduced to 29/3 in three overs. From there they could never really recover and ended up losing the game by 29 runs. Goswami put that down as one of the major causes for the loss.
“The message was simple – play your natural game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a good start and lost early wickets which put us under pressure. Our top order didn’t click and we were still able to narrow that gap. If our top order clicked, we would have gotten that result. The wicket was very good. The ground is a high-scoring ground. It is difficult for bowlers to get you out unless you play rash shots.”
While every single bowler, including Shabnim Ismail, was going for runs last night, Mumbai’s bright spot was the performance of Indian pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who gave away just 20 runs in her four-over quota. Goswami calls her a big asset to the team while applauding the Mumbai Indians scouting unit for bringing together a great mix of young players into the experienced side.
“We have given them clear roles. Pooja is such a quality cricketer. She comes after the powerplay and we have dedicated bowlers in different situations. She bowled very well today. She should continue this rhythm for long, because she is bowling well. Wish she gets a lot of success in the coming days. As a bowler it is important to get rhythm and it is important to hold that rhythm. She will improve and she is a big asset to our team,” the former Indian pacer said.
“First of all, you have to give credit to the MI scout team. They try to cover matches where girls play throughout the year. They bring them to the camp and then we see who fits which role, and then from that we found Amandeep (Kaur). It is the WPL and therefore the Indian players are very important.
“You have only four foreigners and need seven Indian players. You need quality Indian players. The way the scouts and management go through all tournaments deserves a lot of credit. They give us a lot of options before the Auction. That’s what MI men’s cricket does as well, and it is the quality of the MI culture,” the 41-year-old said.