Jemimah Rodrigues thrilled after getting maiden ODI call-up

When you work regressively with full fortitude, one thing which stays right in our head is the thing we wish to achieve. Almost every other task one performs happens to be a goal-oriented work and targets to do it with utmost honesty. The 17-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues was elated after the news of her inclusion hit her ears. The maiden call-up into the Indian side is special for every individual who achieves this feat, and same happened with Jemimah Rodrigues.

Jemimah is thrilled to be a part of 16 member squad which will be lead by Mithali Raj. The short series against South Africa is a limited over encounter and is scheduled to start next month. The Bandra-born Jemimah will be the youngest face in the Indian side and was selected after her superlative show in the Under-19 tournament for Mumbai, followed by Senior Challengers Trophy which concluded recently.

Like her family, Jemimah is also very religious and manages to take some time off and tries to go to the church regularly. She also thanked almighty for her inclusion and gave full credit to the Bible. She said, “I had no performances to show. I was trying everything, but nothing was working for me. I was very low with confidence. At one point, I stopped believing in myself. That’s when my parents (dad Ivan and mum Lavita) encouraged me to read some scriptures from the Bible,” told mid-day.

Narrates a verse from Bible

Jemimah also went onto to narrate a verse from Bible, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future.” The words had a strong impact on her, she said: “I started to relate this to the tough phase I was going through. I was completely lost and didn’t know what my future would be. When I read this, I started to feel better. I thought that when God has not given up on me, why should I? It started thinking positively. I then played the Zonal Cricket Academy matches, where I scored a half-century in my third match itself. It was a new beginning for me.”

Amassed over 1000 runs in a season

The 2017-18 season has been nothing short of phenomenal for the young lady as she amasses 1013 runs in just 11 innings, giving more reasons to selectors to select her. “I became the first batswoman to notch-up 1000-plus runs in U19 cricket. I knew I had to be consistent at the senior level if I have to play for India. Playing against top players was a huge learning curve for me. I was aiming for this selection and I’m very happy to have achieved it,” she concluded.