India batter Jemimah Rodrigues has said that it must be scary for opponents that they're winning despite not playing a perfect match in the tournament so far. The Women in Blue will next take on South Africa in their third fixture of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 after beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
00:03You briefly spoke to the broadcasters after the last match about a few technical changes that you made in your stance especially.
00:10Could you just elaborate on when did that come about?
00:13What was the motivating factor behind trying something different and what exactly was the change that you had to make?
00:20Yeah, I think to go in more depth about what I spoke.
00:25Four years back I think I had an initial movement which I started doing, which was getting me really slow on the ball.
00:31Like I was having too many movements before the ball was released.
00:34So that we nullified and I'm just like stagnant and I react to the ball.
00:40The other thing I did a little bit more was depending on the pitch, like if the pitch is a little lower, I widen my stance a little more and stay a little lower.
00:48So the meeting point of the ball for me is just easier.
00:51And if the pitch is a normal bounce then it's shoulder width apart or maybe slightly smaller.
00:56That's just the basic stuff.
00:58So I think apart from that, nothing.
01:00I think just the reason behind it was it was just the field, like not planned anything.
01:06But at that moment what felt right I just stuck with that.
01:08Just how has it helped you?
01:10I think we saw a lot of it in England.
01:12So just how has it helped you in your game?
01:14Yeah, so it's helped me a lot in England because it was shoulder width.
01:20My head was over here.
01:21When I was slightly wider, my head was here.
01:23So when I'm like, I don't know how to explain it in words properly, but if my head is here, I'm in a better position to meet the ball.
01:29Then all about the balance, the timing, everything flows from there.
01:32But if my head is a little behind, even to play the short balls, I used to get a little late.
01:36So just that technical change of my head being here and one more thing I had done was to just get ready a little earlier.
01:42So if you see my back lift is this and I do that.
01:45So that was mainly to just get ready a little earlier to play the shorter balls much more easier.
01:51But I realized when I did that, even the drives, I was getting more power on it because this position, my head and my shoulder,
01:57it was nicely leaning on the ball and I was able to play.
02:00Whooa.
02:02In the past two matches, I hadn't done enoughину team to make a top order more than I imagined before word two,
02:07of course, throwing up the top order under tight power.
02:09So in my knark we asked myself, tell me how you make sure.
02:10I will not expect any inspire and hip-hopal to push evenraw.
02:11I think you need to be in Rob.
02:12So I'm going to be looking for the fastest imitation line to the team.
02:13I think all you have bet to be doing a good score,
02:14but certainly I wanna say the anticipated battle this year.
02:15They are getting any opportunity to get better than how to build.
02:16You know this that's because I thought the middle of it doesn't cover all the fights at the position,
02:17what you know,
02:19what is freedom and how to push the войnick and you spend low issueathlon vs.
02:22After I don't know what you believe you,
02:23I think our opening partnership has been the highest Pratika in Shifali so far in women's
02:35cricket.
02:36The highest, more than 1000 runs they have crossed.
02:37So if you talk to me about that, I think we are on the right track.
02:41And to see about the positives, yes, we have had small contributions from the top order
02:47and the middle order, but we have had new match winners every match.
02:50So I feel if an enemy team, the opponent team is seeing us, they will know that we have
02:55batting till the end.
02:57So maybe one doesn't click, the other is taking the responsibility.
02:59Like Aman took that time, Dipti took, last match we had Richa.
03:03So I think, how I put it forth, it's scary for the opponents to know that we have not
03:09had our perfect match yet, but we are still on the winning streak.
03:13So we are still waiting for that, you know, that perfect match to come and I think such
03:16tournaments because it's so long, it's important to peak at the right time.
03:19But like I said, we have so much more confidence knowing that till the end we have a batting
03:24and everyone is a match winner.
03:26I mean the first match, ball was very good.
03:27I couldn't do anything extra in that match.
03:28Second match, if you see I had a partnership of I think 47 runs with Harleen, so I didn't
03:32see my score.
03:33I mean the first match, ball was very good.
03:34I couldn't do anything extra in that match.
03:35Second match, if you see I had a partnership of I think 47 runs with Harleen, so I didn't
03:48see my score.
03:49The team's score was challenging, the wicket was challenging, we gave that time and gave
03:55a foundation for the rest of us and we could reach 250 because the wicket wasn't so easy.
04:01So I don't think about it myself.
04:03My only approach is that I want to do whatever it takes for the team over there and if I do
04:08that and my mindset is right, I know performance everything will follow but I want to make
04:12sure I do my job for the team first.
04:21She didn't have an injury, she was just having fever but she looks good to me.
04:28That you see tomorrow.
04:30Hi Jami, well in the first two matches we did see a little bit of a dot ball issue as far
04:36as India is concerned like in the last game in fact we had played 173 dot balls.
04:42So anything that you know is spoken in the team regarding strike rotation and you know
04:47playing less dot balls.
04:49I'd like two things to say, firstly the conditions of both the matches were very different.
04:55It was on the challenging side because I think in Guwahati there was a lot of turn and the
05:00Sri Lankan bowlers were bowling well and the Sri Lanka match the pitch was under cover as
05:06for I think more than 48 hours or 72 hours, I don't know, for 48 hours I think, yeah.
05:11So when that happens there's a lot of sweating that happens on the pitch which causes the
05:15ball to you know grip a little more, stop and come a little more.
05:19So the first thing was that which we conveyed as a batting unit that we knew it was a 250
05:25plus score.
05:26Like 250 would be fighting score, anything above that would be bonus because you're not a 300
05:31score.
05:32But yes, talking about the batting unit we have been discussing how we can improve.
05:35There's always a scope of improvement in every single game and we are working on that and
05:40I'm sure we'll come out even better in the next games.
05:43Hi Jamie.
05:44All the best.
05:45You spoke about the stance and the modification that you've made.
05:49The other, you have a specific routine before taking guard whereas checking your bat grip
05:53the way you hold for the last three years probably.
05:56And could you just talk about that and you've been batting in this specific position for
06:02three years now.
06:04The changes you've made to adapt to this particular role and your routines.
06:09And also if you had taken a look at the pitch could you just.
06:12I think talking about my routines, my teammates make fun of me for doing that but the only reason
06:18was my grip used to keep changing.
06:20So I had to figure out a way how do I get it consistent.
06:23This cricket is such like one, especially my batting, if my grip moves a little here my
06:26head starts falling and then my leg goes across and all these things happen.
06:30To nullify that I just started okay center of the palm and the center of the bat and
06:34that's what I do and try to have that as a routine.
06:38Talking about batting in the middle order.
06:40I think I've said this before, it started with the T20s and at that time I was not sure
06:44if, because I've never in my life batted at number five.
06:47I've always batted at number three or opening.
06:49But if the team required me to do it, I was willing to do it at that position and I started,
06:56like technically no change, maybe minor adjustments here and there on the conditions.
07:01But it was more to do mentally.
07:03Like if I walk in at number five in a T20 and you know we need a asking rate of nine or ten,
07:10am I ready to do it?
07:12If not, what's my plan?
07:13So that plan started from the nets.
07:14So I used to go after the bowling.
07:16From the first ball I used to try and hit every ball for a four and a six, which is not possible.
07:21But the more I tried it, the more I figured out what worked, what didn't work and if not
07:25how I can get a single off that ball.
07:27So my mindset is very simple to get a good strike rate.
07:30For me it's the less number of dot balls I play.
07:33If I hit a four, take a single, two balls, five runs, it's almost like 250 kind of a strike
07:38rate.
07:39For me it's all mentally how I get my runs, how I be smart and get my runs and I try and
07:44apply the same here.
07:45Even at number five, sometimes I walk in the power play, sometimes I walk in the last ten
07:49overs.
07:50But I need to be prepared mentally.
07:51So I just try to put myself in the nets in scenarios that give me a lot of confidence
07:57going in the match that okay I've done it before in my practice, I've prepared well,
08:01I've made it challenging in practice, I know in the match it feels more easier.
08:05Yeah I think the pitch again it was under covers today but it looked like a good pitch, feels
08:13like it might be a 270 plus pitch, not sure.
08:16Again we have to see it tomorrow because it's under covers but yeah it looks like a good pitch.
08:22Yeah.
08:23Hi Jamie.
08:24Home World Cup of course is a huge expectations.
08:27So can you please talk about how you guys are dealing with the these expectations you
08:32are playing in matches in different cities, travelling, maybe people are you know people
08:38have a lot of expectation from the team.
08:40So can you please talk about the home expectations?
08:41I think dealing with expectations is simple to not think too much about it.
08:46The more importance you give it the more it will feel like pressure but the more we stick
08:50to not playing to the people's expectations but to playing to the plans of the team if
08:55we focus on that I think that everything else goes blurry in the background and it's taken
09:00care of.
09:01So I think it's pretty simple to just focus on what we can control, what's in our hands,
09:06our plans, our execution and we just leave the rest.
09:11Jamie, we have dealt with two Asian teams now.
09:14Next few matches are with non-Asian teams so how do you think the team strategy would
09:18differ?
09:19Would we prefer extra spinners or what would be the plan in the next few matches?
09:25I think for us the plan is pretty simple, we play the best cricket we can.
09:30Yes opponents keep changing maybe as a bowling unit we have specific plans for specific batters
09:36as a batting unit we know what bowler bowls which but I don't think there's any drastic
09:40change in how we play.
09:42We've always spoken about in our dressing room sticking to our strengths.
09:46So I think we're just going to focus more on our strengths, our preparation and are we
09:50doing what we've planned and if we've done that we are happy, if not we'll try and improve
09:55that.
09:56Hi Jamie, like you said the team has not been able to put out a perfect game yet and now
10:10the next three matches are South Africa, Australia and England when the semi-final race will start
10:16to get more competitive.
10:18You spoke about the strategy just now but mentally and morally how do you try to keep it in the
10:25team discussions that now we have to bring out our A-game be it during training or while
10:31talking to the coach and captain?
10:33Again like we are just taking one game at a time and we are not seeing oh we are playing
10:38this team or this team.
10:39It's just another game of cricket.
10:41As a batter it's simple, I have to react and play according to the mirror of the ball.
10:46As a bowler it's simple, I need to bowl to my plans.
10:49What is in our control is how we prepare well with our plans and how we come out and execute
10:55that well.
10:56So we are not thinking too much about oh we've not had the perfect game.
11:00No we are thinking about our perfect game is still yet to come and when we have that kind
11:03of a mindset I think it's more of a motivation where we know that even though we didn't have
11:07the perfect game yet we are still winning.
11:09We have still found new match winners.
11:11We have still found each and every individual standing up putting their hand up and saying
11:14okay I am going to take the team through to victory.
11:16So I believe that this team, the quality that this team has everyone at different moments
11:22have shown that they are match winners.
11:24So I think it's just important for us to not be too desperate to get that perfect game.
11:28Just step back, do our job correctly and that game will come.
11:32Just one last question if you don't mind.
11:35On a slightly broader note, we've seen it, although it's been only a few matches in the
11:39World Cup, we've seen a lot of wickets have been falling to left arm spinners, how South
11:44Africa collapsed against England.
11:46I know you faced only one delivery against Sri Lanka but that was a really great delivery from
11:50a left arm spinner.
11:51Sadia Iqbal had really tied things down against India and I don't know if you've seen the score
11:55right now Australia were 80 for 7 against Pakistan.
11:59As a batter in general, could you speak about the challenges that a left arm spinner poses
12:04compared to a leg spinner or something else?
12:07I have not actually thought of it that much but yeah obviously you know they are good quality
12:14left arm spinners and especially with the conditions that we've got in Guati and in Sri Lanka
12:21with the ball gripping and turning a bit, it's always an advantage for a finger spinner.
12:28You know and if someone has that good quality who can mix it up with bowling in and bowling
12:34out, I think that's where the challenge comes.
12:37So I think it's always great to have a good left arm spinner on your team and we have two
12:41in our team, we have Radha and Charini who are top quality bowlers, we've seen them do
12:44well in the WPL.
12:45So we know that they can be a threat to the others.
12:49But yeah apart from that as batters, we just keep practicing.
12:53Like we don't think too much about it just keep our plan simple just know what to do when
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