Jemimah Rodrigues shared an emotional reflection after taking India to a record 339-run chase against Australia in the Women’s World Cup 2025 semifinal at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai. The 24-year-old played a match-winning knock of 127 runs.
After the match, she spoke about her faith, family support, and the difficult months leading up to the tournament. Jemimah revealed that she was informed about her promotion to No. 3 just moments before walking in to bat but stayed focused on helping the team cross the line.
“Firstly, I want to thank Jesus, because I couldn’t do this on my own. I know he carried me through today. I want to thank my mom, my dad, my coach, and every single person who just believed in me throughout this time. It was really hard these last four months, but it just feels like a dream and it’s not sunk in yet,” she said.
“I actually did not bat at three. I was still at five while taking a shower. So just before entering in, I got to know I’m batting at three. But I didn’t think about me. It was not for me to prove a point. It was just for me to win this match for India because we’ve always lost in certain situations. And I just wanted to be there to be able to take us through. Today was not about my 50 or my 100. Today was about making India win,” Jemimah added.
Rodrigues Opens Up on Battling Anxiety and Self-Doubt
Jemimah Rodrigues also opened up about her mental struggles. She revealed that being dropped from the squad last year took a heavy toll on her confidence, leading to anxiety and self-doubt. However, support from her family, teammates, and faith helped her overcome those challenges.
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“Firstly, last year I was dropped from this World Cup. This year I came and I thought, okay, I’ll try it. I was in good form, let’s take it more. But things just kept happening back-to-back and I couldn’t control anything. I had such amazing people around me who believed in me. I’ve almost cried every day throughout this tour. I was not doing well mentally, going through a lot of anxiety. Then being dropped was rather a challenge for me. I think initially I was just trying to stay focused, I just keep talking to myself. But towards the end, I was just quoting one scripture from the Bible. Because I had lost energy, I was very tired,” she revealed.
Jemimah Rodrigues on Harmanpreet and Co. for On-Field Motivation
Jemimah also highlighted the encouragement she received from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, and Deepti Sharma while batting.
“So when Harman di came, all we spoke was about one partnership. We just said, runs are coming. But towards the end, actually, if you want to see that, I was not able to, I was trying to push myself, I was not able to do. Richa keeps speaking to me. Deepti, everyone was speaking to me and encouraging me. Then Amanjot started lifting me up. I am so blessed that I have, when I cannot carry on, my teammates encourage me to carry on. I can’t take credit for any of this and I know I have done nothing,” Rodrigues concluded.
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Her unbeaten 127, featuring 14 fours, became her third ODI century and highest score to date. With this performance, India sealed a place in the final against South Africa on November 2.
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