Jemimah Rodrigues, India women’s team batter, stated that she and the entire team want to emulate India's men’s team’s achievement by winning the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in UAE. She also said that she was inspired by the reception and parade Rohit Sharma and co. got after they won the ICC event in June.
Team India defeated South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados and ended their ICC title drought of 13 years. Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Virat Kohli announced their retirements soon after and received a rousing welcome back home.
The squad first met the Indian PM in New Delhi, before getting an open bus parade in Mumbai along the Marine Lines to Wankhede Stadium.
Inspired by this and also by Shafali Verma and the U19 Indian team’s T20 World Cup win last year, Jemimah Rodrigues feels winning the trophy would be something special for India Women.
“100 percent. It’s nice to keep dreaming about that, and we do dream about sitting on that bus at Marine Lines. I have played a lot of cricket there and got crowds there. But more than anything, we want to lift the World Cup for India.
The U19 girls have done it, but it will be the first one for the women’s team. I think it would be a crazy feeling just to do that. Yes, we have taken a lot of inspiration from the men’s team and it was special watching them do what they did, and hopefully we can do that too,” Jemimah told India Today.
Indian women’s team has suffered heartbreaks in ICC events thrice. They lost to England in the semis in 2018, and Australia beat them in the final in 2020, followed by the semis in 2023.
Jemimah said that India is focusing on building on their own strengths. For the youngster, no team in the World Cup should be undermined.
“Firstly, we are not going to think too much of the opponents we are going to play. We are going to stick to our strengths, work on our preparations, and follow our process well which will help us get the desired results. Whichever team, be it Australia, England, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh, should not be taken lightly,” Jemimah said.
“Every team comes prepared and wants to win the World Cup. So does India, and we are not thinking about our opponents, rather focusing on our strengths. Once we stick to that, everything else will be taken care of,” she added.
The Women’s T20 World Cup was earlier set to take place in Bangladesh, but due to political turmoil, the event was shifted to UAE.
“The conditions in the UAE will be very different to what they were in the CPL. The pitches in the CPL were challenging, but adapting well to the conditions gave me a lot of confidence. I know how to play on different surfaces and that will be something I will be taking into the World Cup. I’m very clear about my role in the Indian team, and I’m sticking to that,” Jemimah mentioned.
Jemimah and India will begin their campaign in the Women's T20 World Cup when they face Sophie Devine’s New Zealand on October 4 in Dubai.
(India Today inputs)
