"She was really sad that they lost the World Cup which they were almost sure of winning. Everybody was expecting the World Cup to come home"
Jemimah Rodrigues is run out by England's wicketkeeper Amy Jones during the Women's World T20 semi-final on Thursday. Pic/AFP
Mumbai batswoman Jemimah Rodrigues makes it a point to get in touch with her family within a few hours after the completion of every match. But yesterday was different. The second semi-final of the ICC World T20 was completed in Antigua well before 9 am India time, but Jemimah called home only at 6 pm (8.30 am Antigua time), according to her father and first coach, Ivan.
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Probably, his 18-year-old daughter was too upset to even call him after India succumbed to the English team tamely with Jemimah getting run out for a run-a-ball 26. "I could sense that she was very sad. I've never sensed so much disappointment in her," Ivan told mid-day.
"She was really sad that they lost the World Cup which they were almost sure of winning. Everybody was expecting the World Cup to come home. I've yet to come to terms with the fact that we lost to England after defeating good teams like Australia and NZ," said Ivan.
The Rodrigues family gathered at a relative's place near their Bandra West residence to watch the match which kicked off at 5.30 am. "It was a big day for us. Jemimah's cousins were eager to watch her in action. The atmosphere in the house was just electrifying," added Ivan.
Ivan was delighted to see his daughter get off to a fine start. "Jemimah hit three boundaries and was just picking up momentum when she got run out. She got out in pursuit of converting ones into twos. It was a close run out... on the line," explained Ivan.
Roberts impressed with teen Jemimah
West Indian Sir Andy Roberts watched the ICC World T20 India v England semi-final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua which has a stand named after the fast bowling great. "The Indian team had a bad day and succumbed to spin just like the West Indies (who lost to Australia earlier on Thursday)," Roberts, who watched the match with his wife Jackie, told mid-day. Roberts was impressed with Jemimah Rodrigues's strokeplay and agreed that the Bandra girl has some "serious talent."
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