Jemimah Rodrigues had a challenging beginning to 2022. India placed fifth on the points chart and was eliminated from the knockout round in the Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand due to a streak of poor performances and Jemimah’s exclusion. Jemimah maintained her positive attitude despite the slight and was also seen practising hockey. According to sources, she competed for the Uncle’s Kitchen United squad at the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana Rink Tournament in Mumbai.
Jemimah was recalled to the team after India’s underwhelming performance in the World Cup for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. She then participated in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where India won a silver medal after losing to Australia in the final. Jemimah discussed the phase and her difficulties accepting her fate of being eliminated from the Indian team during an interview with former India coach WV Raman on his talk show Wednesdays with WV. She was forced to take a vacation from playing cricket because it also affected her mentally.
“There were days, especially in this last year when I was dropped from the team I don’t think I would have been able to make it without them (family). “When I was dropped from the ODI World Cup and I was going through a very bad phase. I was not Jem at home and they knew it. I was trying to fake it for them, I was trying to be happy, show everything is good on the outside but on the inside I was hurting. Cricket is something I love the most, playing in World Cup is a dream and both those things didn’t happen. “For weeks I couldn’t sleep well at home, I was getting dreadful dreams and waking up suddenly in the middle of the night,” said Jemimah.
The healing finally began when Jemimah opened about it with her parents sitting beside in their house. “One day I remember my mom and dad we sat down at home all three of us were trying to be happy for each other just so that we could be strong for each other. Then I broke down and I told my dad that I think I need to take a break from cricket for few days. My dad started crying, my dad never cries. He’s like for me to go through something is fine but when I see my own daughter going through something, it’s 10,000 times worse. And then my mom broke down completely. She is like it’s so hard for me to be strong for the two people I love the most. And we all started crying and I think that was the moment when the healing started.
“I took a break then and just spent time with the family,” she added. In the Women’s Asia Cup, which was contested a few months ago, Jemimah performed brilliantly. After 8 matches, she had amassed 217 runs, becoming the tournament’s top run-scorer. She will now appear in the tri-series in South Africa, which will debut on January 19 and includes stars West Indies. The Indian team will remain in South Africa after the series to play in the February Women’s T20 World Cup.