Women’s ODI World Cup 2025: Jemimah Rodrigues towers above all to play a career-defining innings

Jemimah, a Mumbai girl who loved all sport from hockey to cricket, who strummed a guitar and danced to creative reels, had missed out on the last World Cup and wasn’t the first one to be pencilled in as India floundered a bunch of finishes. But the little woman with fierceness and faith, never stopped diving about while committed in fielding, and delivered India’s most memorable Knockouts chase.

At 16, the utter cricket nut, had lined up at the Mumbai airport to receive the vanquished 2017 World Cup finalists, beaming at them from under a cap showing the iconic thumbs-up. She stayed upbeat through the years, when she kept getting the short shrift in selection, and carried that same positivity when shepherding this unlikely chase.

The storm within and the stillness outside merged in that scoop shot, she shaped up for to Sophie Molineux to whittle down the target, as all of India watched in slow motion and exhaled at yet another tiny Mumbaikar getting the job done. Celebrating neither her 50 nor 100, Jemimah insisted this was not about proving any point. “I wanted to get this done for India,” she said.

Every once in a while, batters enter a phase called the zone, and while muttering to herself, recalling from scriptures, pushing back tears, never giving up and doing the math of a 6.5 RPO chase, she erased all distractions, to master the zen mode. Perhaps while walking out to bat on Thursday in the 2nd over, Jemimah Rodrigues told herself, there was no other way.

At the tournament’s beginning, she had shown a glimpse of her mindspace, but against New Zealand dragging India into semis, she displayed a bit more than that. On Thursday, however, India needed her to step up a level above New Zealand, with stakes higher than ever before.

With Smriti Mandhana struggling to find her touch, it was Rodrigues who got things going with a lovely flick off Kim Garth in the sixth over. It didn’t force any major field change, but it was to set the tone for the rest of her innings. Perhaps that’s the Jemimah magic – she doesn’t world the hammer or booming barrell of a gun, she keeps chiseling away at steep targets, and a beautiful sculpture appears.

Mind working like a computer

When Rodrigues bats at her best, the one noticeable aspect is how busy she can be at the crease. It is almost as if her mind works like a computer on such days.

She mutters something under her breath. She is always looking to pinch a single here, a two there. She understands how to keep the innings going, with her urgent running between the wickets, combined with a boundary timed to perfection.

On Thursday, her mind was ticking at the pace India wanted it to. As Harmanpreet Kaur struggled to get going at the start, it was Rodrigues who eased the pressure by striking the boundaries at the opportune time.

While her front foot play was spotless, it was her backfoot play that was supreme. She used the depth of the crease expertly to carve the ball behind square, using the short boundary on the offside to great effect.

When the need arose, Rodrigues brought out that one shot which had landed her in trouble earlier, but not on Thursday: the sweep. The right-hander got to her fifty with a full-fledged sweep for four and was now forcing Alyssa Healy to put her thinking cap on.

By now, what was helping her case was that her skipper had also found her rhythm. It meant that despite the increasing asking rate, Rodrigues needn’t have had to try anything out of her comfort zone.

As the overs and targets dwindled, Rodrigues got a bit more adventurous. The paddle sweep came out, as did the loft over cover, and India were now suddenly staring at something monumental. Something not many had given them a chance at the start of the day: A win over Australia in the semifinal.

Stillness and steel

Even as Kaur fell and later Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh also departed with brief cameos, Rodrigues kept her end busy. She got to her hundred in the 42nd over. There were no over-the-top celebrations. A job was still to be done. Reaching the landmark, however, seemed to have liberated her.

One of the few players who grew up playing other sports, Jemimah, brought out the reverse sweep, the scoop, and all of them worked on Thursday. Even as wickets fell at the other end, she stayed still. The muttering had reduced, but she was in the zone. The colour of her jersey had gotten darker, but the mind, it seemed, was blank.

She survived two reprieves from Australia, but for the amount she had been through in this tournament, even Lady Luck, it seemed, wanted to shower some rain of fortune on her.

The winning moment may not have come from her bat, but when Amanjot Kaur slashed Sophie Molinuex for four, Rodrigues fell on her knees. It was a sobering moment, but one of relief and ecstasy. Tears fell like rainwater, but these weren’t the emotions of a player who had suffered another heartbreak.

These were of a player who had felt depressed after missing out in the 2022 World Cup. Who had put in the hard yards to get her place back in the side. Who was dropped inexplicably for a crucial game earlier in the tournament.

“Firstly, I want to thank Jesus, because I couldn’t do this on my own. I know he carried me through today. I want to thank my mom, my dad, my coach, and every single person who just believed in me throughout this time. It was really hard these last four months, but it just feels like a dream and it’s not sunk in yet,” she said after being awarded the Player of the match.

For a long while in this tournament, it felt like Rodrigues would not get her moment, but on possibly the biggest night of her career, she created a lifetime memory for herself and for India.

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