With a couple of months to go for the women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE in October, India’s Jemimah Rodrigues is happy to prepare herself for the big-ticket tournament by taking part at the ongoing Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) for Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), alongside India team-mate Shikha Pandey.

Rodrigues, who has already featured in the Hundred and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia besides the Women’s Premier League (WPL), said the stint at WCPL will help her iron out some of the shortcomings before featuring in her career’s fourth T20 World Cup.

Advertisement

“These are the matches that I’m actually going to get before going and playing like proper team matches (T20 World Cup),” Rodrigues said at a media interaction organised by FanCode.

“I’m really looking forward to a few things that I’m working on to try and implement it here because when you do it in practice it’s different. When you do it in a match, it’s way different and franchise cricket has always excited me.”

On the prospects of playing cricket in the Caribbean, Jemimah said she loves the challenge of playing under different conditions, and hopes to carry forward the learnings into the World Cup.

“I love travelling, I love playing for different teams. I love meeting new people and new cricketers and getting to know them, how their mind works and how to play in different conditions. Because every time you go play cricket, you don’t get the same kind of situation. Every time it changes,” she said.

“The more you’re in that situation and in those pressure moments I think that’s the best preparation you can have, so for me, I look at it more as a preparation for the T20 World Cup, and at the same time an added responsibility playing for TKR to do whatever I can to make sure my team wins at the end, so I’m just looking forward to playing these matches and I’m very excited for that,” she added.

Rodrigues, who made her international debut as a teenager in 2018, found the going tough after hitting a rough patch in 2021. However, she redeemed herself during her stint with Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, amassing 249 runs in seven innings, including a best of  an unbeaten 43-ball 92 in the very first game.

Back in India colours, head coach Amol Muzumdar moved Rodrigues to the No 5 slot to lend stability to the middle order, but in the WCPL, she could be batting at No.3.

On being asked if the change would affect her, Rodrigues said, “I think every batter has their own formula. But I think for me, it’s very important to assess the conditions quickly and know which shots work for me on a slower track.”

“For me, just knowing which shots work and having that clarity and going out there with clarity helps wherever I play. For me, the basic formula is just having clarity and applying yourself and playing wherever you’re playing,” she added.