Can Jemimah Rodrigues be India's long-term solution at No. 3?
Jemimah Rodrigues has had a whirlwind road in international cricket so far.
The 21-year-old has already seen plenty of ups and downs over the course of her young career already. However, those are the moments that will likely prepare and her for what is to come in the future.
She notably put up excellent numbers in global domestic tournaments like The Hundred and the Women's Big Bash League late last year. However, she was strangely snubbed from India's squad for the World Cup in New Zealand.
Albeit in a different format, her exclusion left a few question marks, but to Rodrigues, it was just another bump in the road. The Mumbai player was determined not only to get back into the mix for the Indian side, but also to solidify her place in the side.
She left no stone unturned in her preparations for the Sri Lanka tour and the Women's T20 Challenge. It helped Jemimah Rodrigues eventually seal a spot in India's squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
"You have to be Jemimah Rodrigues" - Smriti Mandhana's advice to her friend
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues have been mates ever since their time together in the West Zone, long before playing for India. While Mandhana has bloomed into one of India's finest opening batters, it's been a slightly longer and bumpier road for young Rodrigues.
The youngster has been in and out of the side and simply hasn't consistently scored runs or received gametime. With questions around her game, Rodrigues got in her own head at times.
Ever since breaking into the Indian side, she has always been referred to as what most would describe as a finesse player. Jemimah Rodrigues relies on her excellent hand-eye coordination thanks to her early days as a hockey star to pierce the gaps in the outfield.
She doesn't seem suited to powering her way through matches and attempting to consistently clear long boundaries like Harmanpreet Kaur for instance.
Jemimah Rodrigues recounted her conversation with Mandhana three years ago where the latter asked her to be herself:
"Smriti had told me long back in the IPL [Women's T20 Challenge] in 2019 that you don't have to be a Harmanpreet Kaur or a Smriti Mandhana, you have to be a Jemimah Rodrigues. I think I have understood that role and it's helping me."
These words of advice from one of her best mates really put things into perspective for the Mumbai player. Further chats with Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant only reiterated her belief to be herself.
With her newfound belief, the star piled on runs for fun. She returned to the domestic circuit after a two-year hiatus and captained Mumbai in the Women's Senior T20 Trophy. Rodrigues led from the front, scoring 243 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 167.58, helping Mumbai top their group.
She carried on her excellent form in the Women's T20 Challenge, notching up a brilliant 66 off 44 balls in her second game for the Trailblazers against Velocity. Overall, she scored 90 runs in two games at a strike rate of 135 batting at No. 3.
Her display in the match against Velocity stood out. Jemimah Rodrigues put on a sensational 113-run stand alongside Sabbhineni Meghana after their side found themselves in trouble at 13-1 in the second over. While Meghana put her powergame on display, Rodrigues oozed class as the two grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck.
Thanks to their display, the duo also sealed their place in the Indian T20I side for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Back in the Indian side
Next up, Jemimah Rodrigues' challenge came in a country where she had made a name for herself as a teenage sensation. Back in the Indian side for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, she was one of the standout players in the T20I series, despite playing lower down the order.
The Mumbai batter's flexibility has always been her strength, though she has been vocal about the lack of a certain role clarity at times. Regardless, she wanted to grab her opportunity, no matter the situation and that's exactly what she did.
In the opening T20I, she bagged the Player of the Match award with a match-winning unbeaten knock of 36 off 27 deliveries. In a low-scoring encounter, India lost wickets at regular intervals, finding themselves at 56/3 when Rodrigues made her way in the middle in the 10th over.
JSW Sports athlete Jemimah Rodrigues smashes 36 runs off 27 balls, including three fours and one six, as #TeamIndia Women set a total of 139 runs for Sri Lanka to chase in their opening T20 International in Dambulla. #BetterEveryDay #SLvIND
QUALITY! 🇮🇳 JSW Sports athlete Jemimah Rodrigues smashes 36 runs off 27 balls, including three fours and one six, as #TeamIndia Women set a total of 139 runs for Sri Lanka to chase in their opening T20 International in Dambulla. #BetterEveryDay #SLvIND https://t.co/j8hQzIcvFF
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur fell soon after, leaving India in heaps of trouble. With five overs to go, the Women in Blue were struggling at 85/5 with Jemimah Rodrigues at a run-a-ball 12. She hung around till the end, ending with an unbeaten 36 to help India to what was eventually a winning total.
After an ordinary outing in the second match, she bounced back with another crucial 30-ball 33 to help India to a respectable total in the third T20I. While that innings was not enough to help India win the game, Rodrigues showed that she meant business and was prepared for better things to come.
Success at the Commonwealth Games
The Indian team might have missed out on the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, but the players' incredible achievement receives plenty of credit. Despite all the challenges, they fought hard and nearly clinched the gold medal against World Champions Australia.
If anything, this might only be the start of things to come for this new-look Indian side without veterans Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and more. The team as a whole ticked a lot of boxes throughout the tournament.
Renuka Singh Thakur ending the tournament as the leading wicket-taker will instill some confidence in the bowling unit. The performances of their batters will hold them in good stead as well, while the fielding in the final was brilliant too.
Jemimah Rodrigues was one of the team's standout performers. Starting out in the tournament by batting at number five, she was quickly promoted to number four before eventually taking the number three slot.
In a must-win game against Barbados, she scored an expert 46-ball 56, her seventh T20I fifty, to steer India to a winning total. She followed that up with an even better performance against the hosts of the CWG 2022, England in the semi-finals.
The Indian openers set the platform for their side to post a solid total on the board against the hosts. With her captain alongside her, Rodrigues kept the innings ticking along by minimizing the dot balls and letting Harmanpreet Kaur enjoy more of the strike.
After Kaur's dismissal, Rodrigues effortlessly switched gears to end with an unbeaten 44 off 31 balls. She built her innings brilliantly and set herself up for a big finish, which she notably did to great effect on the Sri Lanka tour as well.
Jemimah Rodrigues at number.3 in the last 2 innings
56*(46) & 44*(31)
#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter https://t.co/qcgZjgggvs
Even in the finals, India were in a commanding position during the game with the same pair of Jemimah Rodrigues and Kaur at the crease. The Indian captain was motoring along while her partner played the ideal second fiddle, rotating strike as much as possible.
Things went south rather quickly for India once Rodrigues was dismissed for a run-a-ball 33. The final ended in a heartbreaking nine-run loss, but the Mumbaikar has laid down a marker.
She ended the tournament as the fifth-highest run-scorer with 146 runs at a a staggering average of 73, the highest for an Indian woman in a T20I series. Rodrigues had a moderate strike rate of 116.80, but the situations she played in demanded her to spend time at the crease.
With Mithali Raj retiring, the Indian side is ushering in a new era and Rodrigues might be at the forefront of it. Her performances have proved that India might not need to look too far to replace one of the best batters the sport has ever seen.
Jemimah Rodrigues can take over the mantle in all formats if she gets the chances she deserves and makes use of them. She has also been vocal about preferring to bat in the No. 3 slot. If she keeps churning out performances like she has in recent times, she could be India's long-term solution in that position.
Rodrigues recently became the youngest batter to reach the 1000-run mark in T20Is. She also entered the top 10 rankings in the latest ICC rankings for T20I batters.
It feels like Jemimah Rodrigues is finally starting to come into her own, simply by being Jemimah Rodrigues. So buckle up for some more fistbumps and aesthetically pleasing strokeplay, because this might only be the start of a long journey.