Jemimah Rodrigues is struggling to make the India XI, but the player has displayed enough skills in her short career thus far to make us believe that she can overturn her poor run, writes Sarah Waris.
Jemimah’s entry into the international scene had sent social media abuzz as the five feet three inches player turned out for her debut game in 2018 against South Africa after notching up 1,013 runs in the 2017-18 season with the Mumbai under-19 side. Though not a dominating figure, the teenager had impressed as she took on the attack by smashing Ayabonga Khaka for three boundaries, including a six, in the sixth over of the innings whilst chasing 165 for a win in the first T20I at Potchefstroom. Her knock of 37 in 27 deliveries after the loss of two quick wickets did not grab many headlines with Mithali Raj stealing the show, but Jemimah had shown enough spark to be touted as a player to watch out for.
Though her overall numbers across international cricket do not make for good viewing — an average of 19.70 in ODIs to go with an average of just over 26 in the shortest format — she has latched onto her chances in tough situations from time to time, to prove why she is worth all the hype.
A prodigy with skills in various sports; but cricket was to be her calling
Ivan Rodrigues, a former cricketer, was the one who pushed his three children into the world of sports. While his two sons excelled in cricket, his daughter had equal inclinations towards cricket, hockey, and basketball. She represented Mumbai in the under-19 hockey team as a center-forward, but when pushed to make a choice, cricket was Jemimah’s pick.
Needless to say, it was a decision that has reaped rich rewards.
Jemimah, who was called to the state under-19 team when she was just 12, scored 665 runs in ten games in the 2016-17 one-day competition in age-group cricket, which was followed by yet another fine run in the Challengers the same year. Her technical prowess impressed the national selectors, who gave her an opportunity against South Africa in 2018. Since then, she has won over hearts with her ability to perform in stiff conditions. With her infectious energy and off-field avatar, she has ensured a number of fans have joined the Jemimah bandwagon.
During the Women’s T20 Challenge game against Velocity in 2019, Jemimah was a class apart in a game where the rest of the players struggled to find the gaps. Driving and flicking with ease, Jemimah waited patiently and focused on not over-hitting the ball. The fact that her teammates Sophie Devine and Harmanpreet Kaur took 19 balls to score 10 runs between them indicates how tough the pitch was, but the youngster moulded her game perfectly to top-score with 77.
She faced 11 deliveries in the middle overs and did not hit a single four, but instead focused on taking the tough singles. She got going in the death overs after getting her eye in, with her lofts over deep midwicket and sweeps to square leg taking her team to a match-winning 142.
Jemimah continued scoring “tough runs” in the limited-overs series against England in 2019, as she showed no signs of nerves against the new ball pair of Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole. She did not take risks initially, and it was only when the ball had worn out and the moisture had dried up that the Indian unleashed her array of strokes as she top-scored with 48 in the first ODI at Wankhede.
Earlier that year, Jemimah had displayed her maturity yet again during the second T20I against New Zealand when she walked out in the third over, and despite a collapse after Smriti Mandhana’s wicket, she brought a sense of calm as she curbed her stroke play to hold one end up. Yet again, Jemimah did not score a single boundary between overs 10 and 16, but managed to bat at a strike-rate over 100. She took 14 of the penultimate over and ended with a fine 72 off 53 deliveries to take India to a challenging total of 135. Though India lost the game, Jemimah’s calmness and maturity were on full display.
The “decline” that still had tough knocks
Jemimah, despite her brave knocks, was not the most consistent player even in the early phase of her career. One year after her debut, she was averaging 20.66 in ODIs and a little over 30 in T20Is. Since then, the average has dwindled further — an average of 18.90 in ODIs to go with an average of 21.64 in T20Is. However, while inconsistency has risen — she does not have a fifty in the last five ODIs — she has three crucial knocks in this interim.
Her 55 off 65 helped the Women in Blue chase down 165 with ease in the first ODI against South Africa in 2019, and she paved the way with a fine 41 at the top of the order at Antigua the same year in the first ODI whilst opening the innings in overcast conditions. In the same series, Jemimah scored 69 off 92 against the likes of Stacy-Ann King and Hayley Matthews, which helped India to a series-levelling win.
Even in T20Is, Jemimah has made it a habit of scoring vital runs that might not help her overall stats but adds immense value to the team’s run-tally. She top-scored with 40 off 51 on a slow track at Guyana in 2019, in a game where both sides combined to score only 119 runs in 36.4 overs. She added 30 off 19 in the tri-series game against Australia last year at Melbourne after Mandhana’s 48-ball 55 while chasing 174 had taken the momentum away from the side. Her 37-ball 34 against Bangladesh Women in the T20 World Cup last year was the second-highest from India, which eventually helped in India putting up a fighting total on a tough track.
This year, Jemimah has batted in eight innings across formats, with a highest score of 30, which has resulted in her losing her spot in the XI. However, the player, who tasted much success as an opener in ODIs, has been displaced from her preferred spot to number three, with Shafali Verma opening alongside Mandhana, and the team should give her more opportunities to acclimatize to her new role instead of leaving her out from the side. She has batted at three just once in her career before this year, and the reason for the below-par scores is not hard to see. She did score 46 in two innings in the T20Is, but batted at number four, despite having played at three for 29 of her 40 innings in the format.
Given the long break that the Indian side had due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jemimah might be struggling for momentum, but she has displayed her fortitude and mental strength when thrown into challenging situations in the past. Backing her, then, instead of benching her after a few failures in unfamiliar positions is what will do her, and, in turn, India good.
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