Jemimah Rodrigues: A Battle from Hate to Heroics

Jemimah Rodrigues, India’s top-order batter, pulled off a generational performance to clinch a historic win over the Aussies and guided her side to the World Cup finals. A knock that instantly turned her into a national hero.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, the 25-year-old broke down as the crowd cheered for her. It wasn’t just tears of joy but an outburst of long-suppressed emotion. Rodrigues was put under a lot of pressure, especially in the last year. From uncalled-for hate to rape threats, she endured everything silently and responded with a heroic knock. That’s the story of an Indian woman who was subjected to vicious cyberbullying for her religious identity.

Cyberbullying is the new normal. It doesn’t spare anyone, from a vulnerable, powerless individual to an influential man like Virat Kohli. It’s safe to say that almost everyone knows how online hate works. It’s like someone threw a stone at a beehive because that’s how unprecedented the attack would be. A horde of zombies would swarm the online realm, spewing a ton of hate. They have rape threats, generational abuse, distorted information, and many other weapons in their loaded arsenal.

Before we understand how Jemimah Rodrigues fell on their radar, let’s take a detour on how she became a superstar from humble beginnings.

She picked up the cricket bat at the tender age of 4, and her family took it pretty seriously. Her father, Evan Rodrigues, became her coach, and she had two fierce competitors to face: her brothers, Enoch and Eli. No wonder she is fearless in the middle, almost embodying Virat Kohli’s persona.

Surprisingly, Jemimah didn’t just restrict herself to a cricket bat but also a hockey stick. Mind you, she went on to become a national hockey player before turning her attention entirely to cricket. Meanwhile, in cricket, she rose up the ranks in the domestic circuit very quickly. In fact, she debuted in the State U-19 at the age of 13. She continued to build on it, winning the Jagmohan Dalmiya Award, BCCI’s recognition for Best Junior, and becoming the second batter after Smriti Mandhana to score a double hundred in the domestic circuit.

Eventually, she found a spot in the national side, wearing the famous blues in 2018. However, Jemimah’s international run wasn’t easy. She had her fair share of ups and downs, filled with downfalls, mental battles, and uprisings. Notably, in the 50-over 2022 WC, she managed to score only 22 runs in 5 games. Speaking of the forgettable stint, Rodrigues expressed that she feared she could not bounce back.

As a response to the setback, she took the Michael Jordan route, changing the sport. Just like MJ picked a baseball bat after his first retirement, Jemimah resorted to hockey for a while.

You must be guessing that she had an upward trajectory after this, but no. She faced her biggest battle in 2024. The management dropped her from the T20 WC squad, a format in which she had expressed her truest explosive nature. While the tournament ended on October 20, Jemimah faced a massive allegation days later.

Khar Gymkhana, one of Mumbai’s oldest clubs, revoked her honourary membership. The club accused Jemimah and her father of conducting regular religious meetings and converting vulnerable individuals. This is where the zombies were let loose. Importantly, she remained silent throughout.

 

Moreover, hate accounts circulated old videos of Jemimah participating in a faith healing ceremony, a practice that is superstitious and devious. That, however, is a discussion for another time. With the amount of religious intolerance and a clinically conditioned hate ecosystem, the star batter faced violent abuse for days, including gang rape threats.

This incident took a toll on her mental health, as she publicly addressed how it is important to seek help during a post-match presentation.

She carried all this in silence, and a year later, she decimated the hate with her semi-final knock. Speaking after the game, she said loud and clear, “I want to thank Jesus, I could not do this on my own. I want to thank my mom, dad, coach, and every single person who believed in me.” The RW handles that spewed hate has suddenly showered her with praises.

Hate to Heroics.