Jemimah Rodrigues: The Young Gun of the Indian Women's Team

Every team needs a player who is the lifeblood that unites the squad and keeps everyone entertained. They have the ability to make every tense situation a bit calmer with their charm and their attitude. But you can never count them out and hang on them whenever required. That player for the Indian Women’s Cricket Team is Jemimah Rodrigues. Jemimah is the young blood of the IWCT and always keeps the environment around her very fun, while also being one of India’s best batters. 

In this article by ZAP, let’s know more about Jemimah Rodrigues, her career, stats, and how she nearly took up hockey as her career. 

Jemimah Rodrigues Early life and Cricket

When she made her U19 state debut, people started calling her a child prodigy. When she made her India debut, people started calling her the future of the Indian Cricket Team. Such is the reputation that Jemimah Rodrigues holds in the cricket circuit.

Jemimah Rodrigues was born on September 5, 2000, and her age is currently 23 years old. She started playing cricket at a very young age, and her father, Mr. Ivan Rodrigues, was her first coach. She practiced for hours and hours in the maidans of Mumbai, with her father constantly throwing tennis balls at her. She started playing cricket because of her elder brothers, as she used to accompany them for their practice sessions. Seeing them bat, she was so fascinated that she herself joined the sport.

Jemi made her domestic debut at the age of 12, representing Mumbai’s Under 19 team. And since then, she has been a regular member of Mumbai’s side. She had played under 19, under 23, and senior cricket for Mumbai. Not only this, she is a regular captain of the Mumbai Senior Women’s Team. Under her captaincy, Mumbai lifted the trophy of the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in 2024, beating Uttarakhand in the finals. 

During her U19 days, she had a really successful season in 2017-18. Before that, people really didn’t know who she was, but after that season, her name was all over the news as she was shattering records. In that season, she scored 202 off 163 balls against Saurashtra, becoming the second batswoman after Smriti Mandhana to score a double ton in the U-19 category in a 50 over match. In a match prior to that, she even scored 178 off 142 balls against Gujarat. Due to her exceptional performance in that season, she was recognised with the Jagmohan Dalmiya Award by BCCI. 

Jemimah Rodrigues: International Cricket Career 

Rodrigues made her T20I debut on 13th February, 2018 against South Africa. Within a month, she made her debut in ODI as well, that is, on 12th March, 2018 against Australia. However, she made her test cricket debut much later. With Cap Number 91, Rodrigues, made her test debut on December 14, 2023, against England. 

Since her entry into the team, she has been an asset. Jemimah Rogrigues’ batting skill doesn’t involve much power hitting, as she primarily relies on timing the ball. She prefers to play grounded cricket shots rather than taking the aerial route. She is a pro at finding the gaps and manipulating the field with her stroke play. 

She’s exceptional in the field, too. She is quick and has one of the safest pairs of hands. Her agility makes her a good boundary fielder. 

Also Read: Cricket Fielding Tips and Techniques

Jemimah Rodrigues was a part of India’s 2022 Commonwealth Games Squad and secured a silver medal in that tournament. She also holds the Gold Medal in Asian games held in Hangzhou in the same year. 

She is just 23 now and has already played a lot of cricket across the globe. She has a long way to go and can eventually flourish as a great cricketer in the coming years. 

Jemimah Rodrigues Stats and Runs in International Cricket:

Jemimah Rodrigues has played just 2 Test Matches, scoring 180 runs with a highest score of 73. While she hasn't yet scored a century in this format, she has managed to secure two half-centuries. Moving to One Day Internationals (ODIs), Rodrigues has played in 27 matches, accumulating 674 runs with a highest score of 86. Her batting average in this format isn’t very impressive; it stands at a mere 26.96, with five half-centuries to her name. Rodrigues shines brightest in the shortest format, Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). She has been a prolific run-scorer, scoring 1944 runs in 92 matches at an average of 29.45. Rodrigues has also demonstrated her ability to accelerate the inning with a decent strike rate of 111.85. Though Jemimah Rodrigues hasn’t scored a century yet, in any format of the game, she’s scored 17 half centuries and still has a lot of time to get to the three figure mark for the Women in Blue. 

Jemimah Rodrigues performances in the Women's Premier League (WPL):

In the auction for the premier season of WPL, Rodrigues was bought at an exhilarating price of ₹2.2 Crore by Delhi Capitals Women's Team. The team finished as runner ups in both editions, losing to the Mumbai Indians Women’s Team in 2023 and the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women’s Team in 2024. However, Jemimah played a crucial role for her side. She used to come bat at number 4 and would start manipulating the field from the word go.

Also Read: Delhi Capitals | Mumbai Indians

Her 2023 edition didn’t go as well as she expected it to be, scoring only 126 runs in 9 matches with no fifty or hundred. However, the second edition went well for her, as she managed to score 235 runs in 9 matches, adding two fifties to her name.

Jemimah Rodrigues: Dance, Hockey and other Interests:

Jemimah, apart from being an exceptional cricketer, is also a very jolly person who likes to cheer everyone up. She is often seen dancing with her teammates, as she really enjoys it. She has great interest in singing and playing guitar as well. In the recent BCCI’s annual award ceremony, she was seen sharing stage with Mr. Sunil Gavaskar, playing the guitar, and Mr. Gavaskar was singing along. She regularly uploads her singing video through her Instagram account as well.

Sports are in Jemi’s blood. Along with cricket, she also played hockey for a long time, and that’s one major reason for her agility and sharpness on the field. She has represented the U17 Maharashtra team in hockey and was once in a dilemma about whether to pick cricket or to go with hockey. But God had a different plan for her, as she chose cricket eventually. 

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