Conservative call: India strengthen bowling, but is dropping Jemimah Rodrigues justified?

Jemimah Rodrigues against Pakistan (Source: AFP)

The home World Cup for India women is turning out to a tricky one. They won their initial two matches but are now under pressure after two consecutive losses against South Africa and Australia.

India drop Rodrigues for extra bowler against England

The reason for the losses in both the games was India's poor bowling performance. They struggled for the sixth bowling option in both the games, and the idea of going with a long batting line-up while compromising on the bowling backfired. Thus, India have made a big change for the crunch game against England by bringing in Renuka Singh into the line-up. However, to accommodate her, India have dropped Jemimah Rodrigues, a move that has raised some eyebrows.

Thus, in this article, we will analyse the move from the Indian team management and its impact on the fortunes of the Women in Blue.

Two ducks for Rodrigues in World Cup, enough to drop her?

Now, if we consider pure numbers of this Women's World Cup, Jemimah Rodrigues has scored the least number of runs among Indian batters. She has bagged two ducks in four matches, and so from outside, her omission looks like a fair call.

However, the selection calls, especially in a big tournament like the World Cup, cannot be based merely on the number of runs. Against Australia, India scored 330 runs, but the score was not enough against the mighty World Champions, and India needed those extra 20-30 runs.

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Conservative approach, a hidden World Cup issue for India

Overall, India have been pretty conservative in their batting approach, especially at the top in this World Cup, and a lot of it comes down to how Pratika Rawat and Harleen Deol have batted. Both of them have scored runs, but the strike-rate has been an issue. In the Australia game, where all other Indian batters scored at a strike-rate of over 100, Pratika Rawat scored her 75 runs in 96 balls, while Harleen did better with 38 off 42 balls.

Against South Africa, another quality team, Rawal managed her 37 runs off 56 balls while Harleen scored 13 off 23 balls. In the game against Pakistan, too, Harleen took 65 balls to score her 46, while she played 64 deliveries to score 48 against Sri Lanka. Rawal too scored 39 at a strike-rate of 62.71 against Sri Lanka, which shows that both of them have been struggling to score runs at a brisk rate, which India need to get over the line against big teams.

Now, Pratika Rawat has been very consistent since her debut, and her opening partnerships with Smriti Mandhana have proved fruitful in bilateral series. India also do not have a backup opener in the World Cup squad, which means that Pratika Rawat has to play. However, India could have shown a bit of boldness by dropping Harleen and persisting with Jemimah Rodrigues against England.

If we compare the overall stats of the two players in 2025, one can see that there is a huge difference in the strike-rate. Rodrigues has scored her runs at a strike rate of 107.29, while Harleen has notched up her runs at a rate of just 77.29. Also, Rodrigues has a better average than Harleen Deol, which shows that she has been more effective. 

Jemimah Rodrigues vs Harleen Deol: ODI stats in 2025

Also, Rodrigues is a more proven performer and has played important knocks under pressure for India. In the game against Australia, she took the responsibility in the middle overs with 33 off just 21 balls and kept the momentum going after a good start.

Rodrigues is also a technically strong batter and can take the number 3 position of Harleen Deol. It would give her more time to get into her innings and a chance to make big scores, which generally is more difficult at number 5 or lower down the order.

Final thought

Thus, leaving out Jemimah Rodrigues can be a big problem for India if the teams like England and New Zealand play to their potential in the upcoming group stage games. If India qualify for the semifinal, they would need to tackle teams like Australia and South Africa, where showing intent with the bat will become imperative. Rodrigues is one batter who has all the gears in her arsenal and showing trust in such a versatile and flexible player is crucial in a big tournament like World Cup.

Therefore, for the upcoming matches, India need to show more fearlessness and turn to Rodrigues over Harleen if they want to play Renuka Singh in the XI.  

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