Happy being myself, don't want to be Harmanpreet or Smriti - Rodrigues

Jemimah Rodrigues played a crucial knock of 56* runs that enabled India Women to post a par score of 162 against Barbados Women in their final group game of the ongoing Commonwealth Games T20 2022 competition.

Jemimah Rodrigues during her craft knock vs Barbados

India eventually won the match by a massive margin of 100 runs, thanks to a four-fer from Renuka Singh.

In the ongoing CWG 22, Rodrigues has scored 69 runs from three-T20Is with a strike rate of 113.11.  

The 21-year-old opened up about her constant comparisons with Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Shafali Verma. She further dwelled on wanting to be known as 'Jermimah' and not someone else.

"The team has given me a role. If I can play that role, it doesn't matter how other people look at it. If the dynamics suit our team, we have Shafali, Smriti, Harman, so I just want to play the best role I want to play for the team," - Rodrigues said in a post-match interaction. 

Known for her stylish and elegant approach, the youngster revealed that she is working on improving her power-hitting abilities going ahead. 

"Definitely, I've worked on my power game, but more than that, I've understood my game better. I'm not a power-hitter, I'm a placer. I can hit the (gaps for) singles and doubles well; I know how to manoeuvre the field.

"My game is not very flashy but even without that, I end up with a good strike rate. That is what I have realised."

Overall she has represented India in 56 WT20Is, amassing 1,196 runs with seven half-centuries. 

Talking about the Commonwealth Games, India will face either New Zealand or England in their semi-finals tie on August 6th, depending on today's (August 5) Group B fixtures. 

Read: English skipper Heather Knight ruled out of CWG 2022 and The Hundred