“I just feel like God scripted everything at the right time.” Jemimah Rodrigues uttered these words after completing arguably the greatest chase in Women’s ODI cricket history. India had to scale the 339-run mountain against 7-time champions Australia, and that too in a semifinal. But it all worked out, almost as if it was planned.
God’s plan or bad planning?
India reached their third Women’s ODI World Cup final. It couldn’t have been more rewarding for Jemimah, who was dropped earlier in the tournament. Heck, she didn’t even know that it would be her who would bat one down.
“I actually did not know I was batting at three. I was still at five while taking a shower. And when the discussion was happening, I just told them, let me know. So just before entering, five minutes before, I got to know I’m batting at three,” Jemimah later revealed.
However, this does beg the question: was it destiny, a fluke, or poor planning? While everyone appreciated India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and head coach Amol Muzumdar, surely one can’t look past how Jemimah was previously benched and then had no issue that she would be one of the architects of the chase.
Where should Jemimah Rodrigues bat in the World Cup final?
Even former India captain Anjum Chopra was baffled when she got to know that Jemimah wasn’t originally planned to bat at number 3. In an exclusive conversation with InsideSport, Anjum, who was commentating during the match, revealed her shock when Jemimah spilled the beans.
“I think the coach (Amol Muzumdar) will be able to answer this better because I thought Jemimah would bat at 3 to begin with. But then after the match, Jemimah said she was unsure about her batting position. I thought there was nobody else who could bat at 3 other than her. I was telling other broadcasters this as well, that if Harleen (Doel) isn’t playing, Jemimah will bat there,” Anjum told InsideSport.
One can’t forget that Jemimah made her ODI debut while opening and batted at number 3 in her next match. She’s always been a top-order batter, but India have used her at number 5 since she came back into the team in December 2023.
“Jemimah was an opener for Mumbai and made her debut as a number 3 (opener) in 2018. But when she came back into the ODI team (December 2023) after getting dropped, she played in the middle order since there wasn’t any top-order slot available for her. She’s not a middle-order batter by choice. But she has actually tailored her game to suit the middle order,” she added.
But the burning question is, where should Jemimah bat in the Women’s ODI World Cup final against South Africa? For Anjum, the answer is simple. She says, ‘There is nobody else’ for the position since Harleen Doel isn’t playing.’
Predicted India Playing XI for Women’s ODI World Cup final
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur
Bench: Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Harleen Doel, Uma Chetry
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