Jemimah Rodrigues: An emerging young talent in making

Mumbai continues their dream tradition of giving talented players to Indian cricket. Jemimah Rodrigues is one of them. Just at the age of 17, she has achieved many of the milestones for which she has been receiving accolades all over. She came into limelight, when she slammed a double ton (202 off 163 balls) in the U19 match against Saurashtra at Aurangabad and became the second highest after Indian opener Smriti Mandhana to do so. The blistering knock was cherished with 21 fours at the strike rate of almost 124. This is not the first time she has performed so well.



 



Presently, Jemimah Rodrigues is playing for U-19 and U-23 Mumbai Team. She also plays zonal matches for the senior team. She is the captain, opening batsman and a handy bowler of the U-19 Mumbai team. She resides in Bandra, Mumbai with her family. She started to play cricket just at the age of four with her elder brothers. Her childhood went by bowling to her elder brothers. She also used to practice with her father till late evening. Cricket was not new to her because her father was a club cricketer and presently runs a coaching class in the Suburban in Mumbai. It is her father’s dream to see his daughter play for the nation whichever sports she opts for. She always gets support and motivation from her parents especially her father who provides her inputs on timely basis. She started her career as a bowler before taking glories as a batter. She was selected in the Mumbai U-19 team just at the age of 14 and her continuous breakthrough performances let her early selection in U-23 and then senior Mumbai Team. Last year in the U-19 league she topped the batting charts with 665 runs in 10 matches. And this year she is already halfway scoring big scores of 178 against Gujarat and 202 against Saurashtra and still going strong.



 



After slamming the double ton Jemimah said, “After scoring 178 against Gujarat, I realized that 200 is possible. The aim was to play straight as possible and not commit any silly mistakes. It was needed to concentrate hard and stay fit. After last year’s tournament, I joined a gym to improve my fitness. I was playing white ball cricket for the first time and it took a lot of adjustment.” By her continuous performances, she is on the radar of selectors and had training at the NCA in Bangalore. Recently she got selected in the India-A team which will play against Bangladesh-A for a series of 3 One-Days and 3 T20s.



 



Jemimah is a very versatile athlete. She also used to play hockey and basketball at the school level other than cricket. She has also represented Mumbai U-17 team in hockey. At the age of 10, she was picked for Maharashtra team in Hockey. Her day went short practicing hockey in the morning and playing cricket in the evening. But it was becoming hectic for her to manage both the sports and the time came when she had to choose one sport. Cricket became her priority then. She had also managed her academics well scoring 80% in her Class 10 examination. She idolizes her fellow Mumbai cricketer Rohit Sharma alongside India captain Mithali Raj for her consistent performances. She loves to play Guitar.



 



Rightfully, she might be the next big thing in Indian cricket.