“Remember watching the match at MCG” - Jemimah Rodrigues opens up on the Virat Kohli inspiration behind her T20 World Cup heroics against Pakistan

Jemimah Rodrigues, Indian Women’s batting star in the Women’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan, has revealed that she was inspired by Virat Kohli’s MCG heroics in the Men’s T20 World Cup last year.

Rodrigues (53* off 38) was the Player of the Match as India Women beat Pakistan Women by seven wickets in their opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match in Newlands, Cape Town on Sunday, February 12. Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh (31* off 20) added an unbroken 58-run partnership as India Women chased down 150 - their highest-ever chase in the T20 World Cup.

During the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, Kohli scored a heroic 82* off 53 balls as India beat Pakistan by four wickets in a thrilling encounter in Melbourne. The game went down to the last ball as India chased down 160.

In an interview posted on ICC, Rodrigues admitted that she was inspired by Kohli’s heroics against Babar Azam and co. The 22-year-old said:

“India vs Pakistan matches are always a little bit more special – we spoke about it in the team meeting. Growing up we always watched these matches. I remember watching the match at the MCG where Virat Kohli played such an extraordinary knock.

“We did speak about it but we also just wanted to go out there and put our first win on the board. We just wanted to go out, play the same cricket and with the same intensity as usual. I knew we had to build partnerships, and I knew if we took it deep we will win.”

Chasing 150, India Women were in a spot of bother at 93/3 in the 14th over when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was dismissed for 16, top-edging Nashra Sandhu. However, Ghosh came in and took the attack to the Pakistan bowlers.

Rodrigues, who anchored the Indian innings, then finished off the game with a flourish, smacking three fours in the 19th over and, in the process, also bringing up her half-century.

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“We knew they would bowl a bad ball eventually” - Jemimah Rodrigues

Reflecting on the memorable win, Rodrigues admitted that the wicket was not easy to bat on, but added that they knew the bad balls would come if they stayed patient. She said:

“We knew they would bowl a bad ball eventually and we would capitalise – it was a difficult wicket but being set helped. This was a team effort. We will let the win sink in, but the tournament has just begun.

“We want to do the simple things correctly and then the results will take care of themselves."

India's next match in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 will be against West Indies in Cape Town on Wednesday, February 15.