Jemima Rodrigues: It feels like a dream and still has not sunk in

Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten 127 powered India to a five-wicket win over Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup semifinal in Mumbai. Overwhelmed with emotion, she credited Jesus, her family, coaches, and teammates for helping her overcome anxiety and self-doubt.

Hyderabad: Jemima Rodrigues, who scored a brilliant unbeaten 127 to help India score a five-wicket win against Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup semifinal in Mumbai on Thursday night, said that she would thank Jesus and that she couldn’t do it on her own.

In the post-match interaction, Jemimah, who revealed that she came to know that she would be batting at No.3 only a few minutes before the match, also said she would  thank her mom, dad and the coach and  every single person who believed in her.

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“It was really hard this last month, it feels like a dream and it still has not sunk in.  Did not know I was batting at three. Was taking a shower, just told them to let me know,” said a visibly emotionalJemimah, who is playing her first ODI World Cup.

” Five minutes before entering in, I was told I was batting at No.3.  Not about me, I wanted to win this match for India, and wanted to take this through (having lost crunch matches before). Today was not about my fifty or my hundred, about making India win,” she said.

“Everything that happened so far was a setup for this. Last year, I was dropped from this World Cup. I was in good form. But things kept happening back-to-back, and could not control anything. I have cried almost every day through this tour. Not doing well mentally, going through anxiety. I knew I had to show up, and God took care of everything. Initially, I was just playing and I kept talking to myself. Towards the end, I was just quoting a scripture from the Bible – to just stand still and that God will fight for me,” Jemimah revealed.

“I just stood there and he fought for me. A lot inside me was left, but I was trying to stay calm. Seeing India win by five wickets, I could not stop myself. When Harry di (captain Harmanpreet Kaur) came, it was all about one good partnership. Towards the end, I was trying to push myself but was not able to. Deepti spoke to me about every ball and kept encouraging me. When I cannot carry on, my teammates can encourage me. Cannot take credit for anything, I did not do anything (on my own),” Jemimah said.

Reflecting on playing in front of her home crowd in Mumbai, Jemimah said that each and every member who chanted, cheered and believed, and for every run they were cheering, that pumped her up.