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“Now people don’t care if it’s a men’s or women’s team” – Jemimah Rodrigues
By SMCS - Sep 15, 2024 9:00 am
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In an interaction with Star Sports, star Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues has shown her happiness seeing the growth of Indian women’s cricket in the last few years. As per her, people now don’t care whether it’s a men’s or women’s team, and they see both of the games as Indian
teams. However, the rise can be credited to the Indian team’s consistent performance and the success of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has also been the driving force as well.

Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj

Jemimah hailed veteran players, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, for sowing the seed for the Indian women’s team. She feels the duo are the
reason people got to know about women’s cricket as well, and the current generation is enjoying the fruits of their hard work as well.

She said: “When we started playing cricket, at least for me personally, the only two names I knew were Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. I didn’t even know how they looked honestly, because there were no televised games. They did it without the recognition, without the fame, we are enjoying the fruits of what they have sown. Because of them, we have come here.”

jemimah rodrigues
Jemimah Rodrigues and Smrti Mandhana

“Now there’s Smriti [Mandhana], Harmanpreet [Kaur], you know the next generation that’s come, I mean everyone knows about women’s cricket. One of the things that have changed since the last few years is the excitement to see our games.”Now people are coming and telling we don’t care if it’s a men’s or women’s team, we see the Indian team playing. That excitement, that josh that we get is I think the turning point and we are part of this generation, I think that is the biggest motivation for us,” she again shared.

However, the BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in the UAE from
October 3 to 20 as well. Jemimah Rodrigues, who is a key performer, also found a place in the side and expected to play a key role as well.