We will bounce back: Jemimah Rodrigues

Jemimah Rodrigues, at 17, may be the youngest in the side, but she appears to have taken the responsibility of carrying Indian cricket on her shoulders.

And that was visible on Monday when the seniors like Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma threw away their wickets, it was Jemimah’s first international 50 that salvaged some pride for India against Australia in the third league match-of the T20 tri-series at the Brabourne Stadium.

The Mumbai girl's half century came in 41 balls studded with eight boundaries. She was also involved in a 54-run stand with captain Harmanpreet Kaur for the fourth wicket before she got dismissed by Delissa Kimince.
However, it was what the 17-year-old said in the post match press conferencethat showed that as a cricketer she has is as level-headed as they come.

Talking about the disappointment of bowing out of the tri-series, Jemima said the team will bounce back.
“The best part of our team is that we are together and there is no blame game going on because of these consecutive losses, she said.

“Each one is taking their responsibility and they are agreeing that it is because of us. They are sad and I believe in our team and the support staff we have the trust they are putting in us. We are going to bounce back and we are going to come back in the coming series and specially in the (T20) World Cup,” she added.

About her batting in the match she said, “There was pressure but our thing is like one person needs to attack and the other player has to play the supporting role. I was set and I was playing and timing the ball well, our plan was I will go and attack and Hari di (Harmanpreet) will keep on rotating the strike and if she gets a loose ball (she will hit),” Jemimah said.

Jemimah, who has a double ton to her name in domestic cricket, perfectly anchored the innings, but she lacked a partner who could go after the attack. Her drives on the front and the quick running between the wickets made her look like a compact player.

While youngster has opened the innings before it was the first time in the tr-series that she faced the new ball. “I was prepared to bat at any order, I was even ready for one-down, normally I go one-down, and I enjoy opening and it was fine”

So how does she adjust between a 50-over game and a T20? “It is just the change of mindset, the technique and everything is the same, when you go for ODIs or you go for T20s. It is just the change of mindset in T20, where you need to be more aggressive, fearless and you need to take calculated risks. Whereas in ODIs you have much more time to settle down and you can pace your innings, but T20 is more of a bold game”