Women's WC: Finding calm in chaos - Jemimah opens up on struggle with anxiety

NAVI MUMBAI: Soon aft she played the innings of her beingness — a superb unbeaten 127 disconnected 134 balls — to publication India’s five-wicket triumph implicit giants Australia successful the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup astatine the DY Patil Stadium connected Thursday night, Jemimah Rodrigues, overwhelmed by emotion, broke down respective times during the post-match property conference.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The 25-year-old Bandra miss opened up connected the intelligence conflict she had faced implicit the past month, revealing she had been suffering from terrible anxiousness starring up to her maiden World Cup century. She said radical who endure from terrible anxiousness issues should not beryllium acrophobic to inquire for help.Describing a play successful her beingness that near her “numb” and often successful tears, Jemimah said she hoped her communicative volition assistance others with akin struggles."I’ll beryllium precise susceptible present due to the fact that if idiosyncratic watching this is going done the aforesaid thing, that’s my full intent of saying it. Nobody likes to speech astir their weakness. I was going done a batch of anxiousness astatine the commencement of the tournament,” she said, pausing repeatedly arsenic tears welled up.

She thanked a fewer of her teammates for lasting by her during that phase. “It (anxiety) was a lot. Before a fewer games, I utilized to telephone my ma and outcry the full time, conscionable to fto it out.

When you’re going done anxiety, you conscionable consciousness numb. You don’t cognize what to do, you’re conscionable trying to beryllium yourself. My mum and dada supported maine a lot. And determination was Arundhati (Reddy) — I deliberation I’ve cried successful beforehand of her astir each day. Later, I joked, ‘Don’t travel adjacent maine oregon I’ll commencement crying!’ But she checked connected maine each azygous day.

”“Smriti (Mandhana) helped maine too. She knew what I was going through. A fewer nett sessions, she would conscionable basal there.

Even yesterday, she came and conscionable stood determination due to the fact that she knew her beingness meant a batch to me. Then there’s Radha (Yadav), who’s ever been determination taking attraction of me. I’m truthful blessed to person friends I tin telephone family. It’s good to inquire for help.”

Playing her archetypal ODI World Cup, Jemimah began the tourney with humble scores of 0, 32, 0 and 33. Things worsened erstwhile she was dropped for the lucifer against England successful Indore, arsenic India opted for an other bowler.“That truly deed me. When you’re dropped, you person a batch of doubts. I ever privation to lend to the team, but that time I couldn’t bash overmuch sitting out. When I came back, the unit was adjacent greater,” she said.Returning to the XI for the important league lucifer against New Zealand astatine DY Patil, Jemimah struck an unbeaten 76 disconnected 55 balls to usher India to triumph — and rediscovered her rhythm.“My household went done a lot, but they stood by maine and believed successful maine erstwhile I couldn’t.

Sometimes each you request to bash is bent successful determination and things autumn into place. I’m precise grateful to those who believed successful maine and understood me, due to the fact that I couldn’t person done this alone.”During her period successful the semifinal, Jemimah was often seen dropping to her knees — moments she said were soundless prayers.“I was praying. I was talking to myself due to the fact that I’d mislaid a batch of vigor and was feeling precise tired. Because of that, I played a fewer escaped shots — it was a tricky phase.

I was wondering, ‘Should I spell for it now? Or instrumentality it deep?’ The learning was to enactment there. Towards the end, we could ever instrumentality it deep,” she said.“I was talking to God due to the fact that I consciousness I person a idiosyncratic narration with Him. When I can’t transportation myself, He ever carries me.”Jemimah was dropped doubly — connected 82 and 106 — but ne'er mislaid focus, anchoring India’s grounds pursuit of 339. Batting astatine No.3, she came successful aft conscionable 9 balls and stayed till the end.“How bash I complaint this innings? Honestly, I haven’t fto it descend in. I didn’t play for my hundred, oregon to beryllium a constituent astatine No.3. I conscionable played to marque definite India won. That was my lone motivation. When you play for the team, not yourself, I deliberation God besides favours you,” she said, smiling done tears.Rodrigues revealed that during the squad gathering connected the eve of the semifinal, she had declared her extremity — to decorativeness the game.“We were discussing what we could bash better, and I said, ‘I privation to beryllium determination till the extremity and decorativeness the game.’

Whether batting archetypal oregon chasing, I knew if I stayed, we’d get those other 20–30 runs due to the fact that I tally good and find antithetic gaps. If we were chasing, I wanted to marque definite I took the squad through. The past period wasn’t easy, but it conscionable felt similar everything was a setup for this moment.”Even aft India mislaid some openers early, Jemimah revived the pursuit with a 167-run basal with Harmanpreet Kaur (89). When Harman fell successful the 36th over, the unit intensified.“I was telling Harry di (Harmanpreet) that we some had to decorativeness it. When she got out, it was astir a blessing successful disguise — I was losing absorption from tiredness, but her dismissal added responsibility. I told myself, ‘Okay, she’s out, I’ll people for her.’ That got maine backmost into the close zone,” she said. Jemimah said India were not daunted by the mammoth target. “We knew we’d done it against this squad before. I felt with the mode Australia started, they were 30 runs short.

DY Patil is specified a transportation — immoderate people is chaseable. My thought process was simple: I conscionable had to beryllium there.”