Jemimah Rodrigues Talks About Growing Support for Women’s Cricket Ahead of T20 World Cup 2024
New Delhi, India – As the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) approaches, star India Women’s batter Jemimah Rodrigues shared her thoughts on the increasing support for women’s cricket. India will start their campaign against New Zealand on October 4, with a much-anticipated match against Pakistan on October 6.
Rodrigues reminisced about her early days in cricket, mentioning that she only knew of two players, former India Women’s captain Mithali Raj and former right-arm seamer Jhulan Goswami. She highlighted the lack of televised games back then and credited these pioneers for the current recognition and fame women’s cricket enjoys.
“When we started playing cricket, at least for me personally, the only two names I knew were Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. I didn’t even know how they looked, honestly, because there were no televised games. They achieved success without recognition or fame, and we are now enjoying the fruits of what they have sown. Because of them, we are here,” Jemimah said while speaking to Star Sports.
Rodrigues also noted the growing excitement to watch women’s matches. “Now there’s Smriti [Mandhana], Harmanpreet [Kaur], and the next generation that has come up. Everyone knows about women’s cricket now. One of the biggest changes over the last few years is the excitement around watching our games,” she added.
“People now come and say they don’t care if it’s a men’s or women’s team; they just want to see the Indian team play. That excitement, that ‘josh’ we get, is a turning point, and being part of this generation is the biggest motivation for us,” the 24-year-old concluded.
All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur will lead a strong 15-member squad for the upcoming event. Harmanpreet will be assisted by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who is expected to open the batting with Shafali Verma. Dayalan Hemalatha is another top-order option in the squad. Along with them, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh will strengthen an already formidable batting line-up. Richa is the designated wicketkeeper in the squad, alongside Yastika Bhatia.
Bowling options include Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Sajana Sajeevan, and Shreyanka Patil. India has a good share of all-rounders in Harmanpreet, Sajana, Sobhana, and Deepti. The inclusion of Yastika and Shreyanka is subject to fitness, as both players have been battling injuries over the past couple of months. India will also have three travelling reserves for the event in the UAE.
In last year’s T20 World Cup, Australia defeated South Africa by 19 runs to win their sixth title. India reached the semi-finals, narrowly losing to Australia by five runs.
Squad:
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan.
Travelling reserves:
Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor.
Non-travelling reserves:
Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra.
Doubts Revealed
Jemimah Rodrigues -: Jemimah Rodrigues is a famous Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women’s national cricket team. She is known for her excellent batting skills.
Women’s Cricket -: Women’s cricket is the sport of cricket played by women. It has been gaining popularity and support over the years.
T20 World Cup 2024 -: The T20 World Cup 2024 is a major international cricket tournament where teams from different countries compete in the T20 format, which means each team plays 20 overs.
ICC -: ICC stands for International Cricket Council. It is the global governing body for cricket, responsible for organizing major tournaments like the T20 World Cup.
UAE -: UAE stands for the United Arab Emirates, a country in the Middle East where the T20 World Cup 2024 will be held.
Mithali Raj -: Mithali Raj is a retired Indian cricketer and one of the greatest female cricketers of all time. She has been a pioneer in women’s cricket.
Jhulan Goswami -: Jhulan Goswami is a former Indian cricketer known for her fast bowling. She has been a key player in the Indian women’s cricket team.
Harmanpreet Kaur -: Harmanpreet Kaur is the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team. She is known for her powerful batting and leadership skills.
Smriti Mandhana -: Smriti Mandhana is the vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team. She is a talented batswoman and one of the team’s key players.
Semi-finals -: Semi-finals are the matches that take place before the final in a tournament. The winners of the semi-finals move on to compete in the final match.
