Member of the Asian Games gold medal-winning Indian Women’s cricket team, Jemimah Rodrigues has revealed that they had spoken to the Men’s team as well and urged them to win the gold medal in cricket as well.
The Indian women's team beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final to clinch the gold medal in Hangzhou in their maiden appearance. Batting first, India posted 116 for 7 on a difficult batting track before the Titas Sadhu-led bowling attack restricted Sri Lanka to 97 for 8 in 20 overs.
Like the women’s team, India, Pakistan Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka men’s teams have been directly given entry into the quarterfinals of the cricket event based on the rankings.
The men’s cricket tournament at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 is a 14-team affair and starts on September 27. The bronze and gold medal matches will be played on October 7.
The Indian men’s team will play its quarter final match on October 3rd at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Hangzhou.
India batter Jemima Rodrigues on Monday urged the men's team to set their sights on winning gold, following her team's historic win in the women's event at the Asian Games.
“We have spoken to the men's team. We have told them that we are bringing the gold; you guys also bring it. (It) feels great. Just to win the gold is special, and being the first Indian cricket side to win the gold will make people go back in history and see that this was the team that won the first-ever gold in cricket in the Asian Games. It's an amazing feeling,” an elated Rodrigues told reporters.
Rodrigues said it was a proud feeling to add to India's medals tally at the Games.
"It is a very different experience, wearing this India jersey is a (matter of) different pride. Also, we can add a medal to India as a sporting nation. It wasn't easy as Sri Lanka gave us a good fight. Their bowlers bowled spot-on, and we had to apply ourselves. Very proud of the girls, and the way we played today displays our character,” she said.
"It was an important partnership between me and Smriti (Mandhana) because the Sri Lankan bowlers were at the top of their game. We are glad the way we played and built the partnership, along with the other girls coming in and chipping in,” Rodrigues said.
Rodrigues said the team had to adapt to different surfaces for every match.
"We honestly did not know what to expect when we came over here. We knew that we had to be ready for any condition, and in all three matches, we had different kinds of wickets that we had to adapt to, which was the best part of our team's performance.
It's been a great experience in general, the way everyone has welcomed us in China. It's not been easy since the communication has been a problem. But, they (the organizers) went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and make our stay easy," she added.
India men’s team is captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is currently engaged in the India vs Australia ODI series, which will end on September 27 in Rajkot.
(Times of India inputs)
