'Mummy told me to hit a four' - Jemimah Rodrigues recalls sledging incident with Australian team

Indian star batter Jemimah Rodrigues recently shared a hilarious sledging incident that happened at the Wankhede Stadium in 2023 during a one-off Test match against Australia. India went on to win that match against the Alyssa Healy-led side by eight wickets.

Jemimah reminisced about sharing the crease with Richa Ghosh during the match, revealing that she kept chatting with her often between overs. Australia captain Alyssa Healy jokingly labelled Jemimah as “Mummy”, asking Richa to pay attention to her. Moments later, Richa responded in style by striking the boundary off the very next delivery and quipping back that “Mummy” had told her to go for the four.

"Richa and I were playing. I was speaking to her in between overs constantly. Alyssa Healy from behind was like, 'Hey, your mummy is talking, go listen to her.' Next, over the first ball, Richa hits a square cut for four. She turns around and says 'Mummy told me to hit a four," Jemimah shared via Breakfast with Champions.

In that match, the hosts posted a mammoth total of 406 in the first innings, with Jemimah scoring 73 and Richa contributing with a 52-run knock. There were crucial contributions from Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, too, with both scoring half-centuries. 

Further spilling the inside talks of the national teammates, the Mumbai-born also shared some nicknames within the Indian team's dressing room, mentioning that captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who also led the Indian team to their first-ever World Cup win recently, is fondly referred to as “Thor Didi.”

“Our nicknames are pretty simple. Richu [Richa Ghosh], Deepu [Deepti Sharma], Jemu [herself]. Harman is Thor didi, Harmanpreet Thor. On the field, you see her aggressive, but off the field, she is very emotional. She will give everything for you," she stated. 

Jemimah on Indian team's atmosphere

In the same interaction, the 25-year-old spoke about the team’s light-hearted bonding moments, recalling a humorous instance from their time together during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

"We have team bonding dinners. In that I play a key role. Along with Harleen [Deol], I am the Chief Fun Officer. Once during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, we did a treasure hunt in the hotel. The most enthu about this was Amol Sir. He will call me ten days before. Then the next day at breakfast, he will ask me if I have planned anything," she added.

Jemimah shares emotions on captaining Delhi Capitals in WPL

The Mumbai cricketer also shared her thoughts on captaining the Delhi Capitals in WPL. She was named Delhi Capitals captain ahead of the 2026 WPL season. Furthermore, the ace batter mentioned how the leadership role has brought out the best in her and added that she relished taking on the added responsibility.

"I have always loved the leadership role. I have been leading Mumbai from when I was 16 or 17. And I always felt that whenever I got the captaincy, the added responsibility has got the best out of me. As a leader, I want to be the first one doing it before telling someone else. I am still nervous. Never led a franchise team,” she said.

Delhi Capitals will begin their WPL journey this year by locking horns with Mumbai Indians on January 10 at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai, and it will be interesting to see how they fare under a new full-time skipper.