"They don't carry any baggage" - Amol Muzumdar lauds Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh's match-winning partnership
Amol Muzumdar has lauded Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh for not getting bogged down by the situation and leading India to a win in their Women's T20 World Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan.
Bismah Maroof and Co. set the Women in Blue a challenging 150-run target in Cape Town on Sunday, February 12. Jemimah (53* off 38) and Richa (31* off 20) helped India overhaul the target with seven wickets and an over to spare.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Muzumdar was asked about his thoughts on Jemimah and Richa's partnership, to which he responded:
"The thing that made me most happy is that they are modern-generation players. They don't carry any baggage, whether it is Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh or Shafali Verma. They have a clean and clear approach to batting."
The former Mumbai player feels Sunday's knock will stand Jemimah in good stead going forward in the tournament, saying:
"They just see the ball and play their shots. If we talk about the 53 runs Jemimah Rodrigues scored, this knock will give her a lot of confidence and I feel she will play such knocks going forward as well."
Richa joined Jemimah in the middle with India in a spot of bother at 93/3 after 13.3 overs at the fall of Harmanpreet Kaur's wicket. The duo added 58 runs in the next 5.3 overs to help last time's finalists get off to a winning start.
"She didn't throw away her wicket after getting set" - Reema Malhotra picks Jemimah Rodrigues as the biggest positive for India
Reema Malhotra praised Jemimah for pacing his innings brilliantly, elaborating:
"Her strike rate is always spoken about. If you see today, she took her time at the start, then came at a run-a-ball and if you see at the end, the strike rate was better. She didn't throw away her wicket after getting set. She came back after finishing the match."
The spin-bowling all-rounder concluded by picking the Mumbai player as the biggest gain for India from the game, stating:
"If such a player bats at No. 3 and ensures that you don't lose back-to-back wickets, makes the match, grafts at the start, contributes and then wins the match - the biggest positive."
Jemimah struck eight fours, including the winning hit, during her innings. She was awarded the Player of the Match for her mature knock.