Jemimah Rodrigues, India's top batter, has finally addressed the much-discussed Khar Gymkhana scandal that erupted in cricket circles shortly after her vital part in India's recent World Cup victory. Rodrigues’ membership of Khar Gymkhana was canceled after she and her father were accused of holding religious conversion activities.
This happened last October when Jemimah’s father, Ivan Rodrigues, came under scrutiny for allegedly hosting around 35 gatherings associated with Brother Manuel Ministries over 18 months.
These meetings were alleged to include religious activities, which violated the club's rules prohibiting political or religious events on its premises. Tensions rose after a staff member reported the problem to former club president Nitin Gadekar, causing management to launch formal proceedings via a member vote.
Rodrigues played an important role in India’s Women’s World Cup 2025 win, scoring a brilliant 127* in the semi-final win over Australia.
“Sir, to be honest, I remember when that happened. It was one thing for me to face it, but when my parents were dragged into it for something we didn’t do, it really hurt. Everything we did at that time was according to the rules and regulations—and we had proof of that. But the allegations made against me and my family really affected us deeply because we had done nothing wrong,” Jemimah said on India Today.
“That happened right after the World Cup in Dubai, where we hadn’t done well. I personally hadn’t performed to my expectations and was already feeling low. Then suddenly, I started seeing news, messages, and people saying terrible things about me — and worse, about my family and my church. That broke me. I remember my brother calling me, and I just started crying. I didn’t know what to do. It felt like one blow after another—first my performance, and then false allegations about my family,” Jemimah said.
Jemimah stated that she and her family chose faith and forgiveness over confrontation during the controversy. She further added that God played a huge role and stated that the World Cup win was something that happened because she kept her faith in him.
“But as a family, we sat together and said, ‘This is not our battle to fight. We knew our intentions were right, and we knew we hadn’t done anything wrong. God is our witness. So, we decided to stay silent, not to prove anything or fight back. We chose to forgive those who hurt us—because that’s what Jesus taught us, to forgive even those who wrong us.
And honestly, I’ve seen how God turned it all around. Exactly a year later came the New Zealand semi-final knock and India winning the World Cup. Around the same time last year, we were in pain, but this year, God lifted us up and gave us double honor for every bit of shame we went through,” Jemimah added.
Jemimah amassed 292 runs in the recently concluded ODI World Cup at an impressive average of 58.40.
