Published: Feb 15, 2019, 12:07 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 15, 2019, 12:07 PM (IST)
Since her debut for India women last year – at the age of 17 – Mumbai’s Jemimah Rodrigues has had a meteoric rise in international cricket and just one year in to top flight cricket, she finds herself second in the ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings behind only to New Zealand legend Suzie Bates.
That too, at the age of 18, indicating that sky’s the limit for the top-order batter, however, she isn’t getting carried away by the early success.
“It definitely feels good, but I don’t want this to get to my head, get carried away,” Rodrigues told The Mid-Day. “I just want to keep doing well and get better at what I do. Playing cricket is something I enjoy and I don’t want to take unnecessary pressure and spoil that. I just know that I need to enjoy the process and ensure my team does well. The rest will follow.”
During the recently concluded tour of New Zealand, Rodrigues managed two fifty plus scores – one in ODIs and one in T20Is – helping Indian women claim the ODI series 2-1. She said the tour was a big confidence booster for her.
“It was definitely a confidence booster for me. I needed to score some runs, build that confidence. I learnt a lot from playing in different weather conditions and against good opposition,” she said.
On being asked about any areas that she needs to improve in her batting, the 18-year hopes to start hitting a few more sixes.
“Personally, I would say hitting sixes. That’s the one area I need to work on,” she said, adding that like her senior teammates Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, she would also love to play women’s cricket leagues around the world.
“Yes, I would love to experience that somewhere down the line. Playing with players of different countries will get me great exposure to quality bowling, batting and fielding. I would love to pick up some fitness tips and their work ethic. They [Harmanpreet and Smriti] have told me about the fitness standards there,” she added.
