Sachin sir asked my coach to tell me to put Australia knock aside and start from zero: Jemimah

Ahead of the upcoming Women's T20 World Cup, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur shared the legendary advice and tactical masterstrokes that fueled India's historic 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup triumph

New Delhi: India batter Jemimah Rodrigues has revealed that batting legend Sachin Tendulkar sent her a simple yet powerful message through her coach ahead of the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup final: put her epic semi-final knock aside and start from zero in the title clash.

India, the reigning ODI World Cup champions, are now aiming to capture back-to-back global titles at the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in England, which begins on June 12 and culminates with the final at Lord’s on July 5.

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“Sachin sir called my coach, Prashant Shetty,” Rodrigues told JioStar. “He asked him to tell me that he understood the past couple of days had been overwhelming—the big knock against Australia in the semi-final, the joy of beating them. But he reminded me that the job was not over yet. We still had a final to win.”

“He said to try to put that aside and start from zero. That message really helped me reset my mind. I understood that what you did yesterday does not win you the next game. You must treat every match as a new start. That advice from a legend gave me so much clarity before the final,” she added.

All-rounder Shafali Verma, who played a match-winning role with both bat and ball in the final against South Africa in Navi Mumbai, recalled a motivating voice note from her father during the tournament’s two-day break.

“My dad sent me a voice note saying, ‘Just work hard. Give your best on the field. And it has to be in writing that Shafali Verma helped India win the World Cup.’ That gave me extra fire. I knew I had to perform not just for myself, but for him and the team. It pushed me to give everything,” Verma said.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur reflected on the team’s tactical mindset during the final and her instinctive decision to hand the ball to Verma, who picked up two game-changing wickets.

“The only thing we discussed was: if we bat first in the final, don’t go in expecting to score 300 runs,” Kaur said. “If you carry that expectation, you will end up making mistakes. Even though we had five proper bowlers, I don’t know why Shafali’s name kept coming to my mind.”

“I felt it was her day. When Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus started building a partnership, I knew I had to bring her on. Chasing on that sticky pitch was going to get easier in the second innings because of the dew and the wet outfield. It was doing a lot off the surface. So, I asked Shafali if she wanted to bowl. She said with great confidence: ‘I will bowl, and I will take wickets.'”