A long with Barbie dolls, came a plastic cricket bat. Bedtime stories were only after coaching at the stumps. Grandpa set the ball rolling when she was just 3 years old. Storming her way into the school team at St. Joseph’s Bandra, as a bowler at the age of 8, she sent the batsman’s stumps cart-wheeling at the very second ball at the selections. Long hours at the cricket ground and nets at St. Joseph’s Convent High School in Bandra and Rizvi College of Arts, Science & Commerce ensued.

Having hit gender stereotypes right out of the park from her formative years, it was never the customary pink for girls and blue for boys. Smashing obstacles that came her way with the middle of her bat, Jemimah went on to adorn India’s blue jersey in February 2018. For Jemimah Rodrigues, there was no looking back from there.

The swashbuckling batter grabbed eyeballs at the semi- finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, with an unbeaten match-winning knock of 127 runs from 134 balls in India’s daunting run chase versus Australia, catapulting India to the finals.

Jemi’s jersey stained with mud and dirt during that thrilling semi-final encounter went viral and prompted Surf Excel whose ad tagline ‘’Daag Acche Hain’’ meaning ‘Stains are Good’ to send her a parcel of empty detergent bottles and a frame with a letter asking her to preserve the jersey and not wash it.

A few days later, the women in blue created history at the finals on November 2, 2025 at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai by defeating South Africa by a convincing 52 runs and clinched their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup.

Born in a devout Mangalorean Catholic family, Jemimah’s parents – Ivan Rodrigues, a former aircraft maintenance engineer of Jet Airways and Lavita Rodrigues, took to running a coaching centre – ‘Scholars Coaching Institute’ for all subjects for classes 8 to 10. Ivan is also into cricket coaching and is one of daughter dear’s mentors. Brothers Enoch and Eli were her early training partners. While Jemimah stuck to cricket, her brothers chose different paths. Enoch went on to become a photographer, while Eli is a percussionist. The closely knit family clicks and drums up support for the in-house sports star.

From wielding the willow, to strumming on her guitar and singing, Jemi looks forward to the Little Master Sunny Gavaskar’s offer to sing along after the World Cup feat.

Jemi’s mother Lavita is her emotional backbone and ensures that she has a nutritious diet ranging from a hot meal of rice, dhal, Bombay duck fry and prawn fry and chicken. The Rodrigues family makes it a point to watch all her games whenever possible.

The champion cricketer’s passion for the game is obvious from the fact that hardly after a week of the Indian team’s victory, Jemimah jetted off to Australia to play in the WBBL- Women’s Big Bash League where she plays for the team Brisbane Heat.

Watching Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has always been inspiring. But her biggest strength has always been Jesus. At a pre- presentation tete-a-tete, Jemi acknowledged His presence in her life. “There’s a passage in the Bible. ‘Be Still and I will fight for you’. That’s what I did when I was exhausted on the pitch.” A standing ovation is in order for this beacon of inspiration for many young girls to dream beyond conventional boundaries.