• Home
  • Who Said What
  • This Is World Cup Must Show Character Jemimah Rodrigues Eyes Comeback After Nz Loss

'This Is World Cup, Must Show Character' - Jemimah Rodrigues Eyes Comeback After NZ Loss

"Jemimah Rodrigues is not loosing hope despite India's loss against NZ (@BCCIWomen/X.com)Jemimah Rodrigues is not loosing hope despite India's loss against NZ (@BCCIWomen/X.com)

India Women’s Cricket Team suffered a crushing 58-run defeat against New Zealand in their opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Despite the heavy loss, star batter Jemimah Rodrigues remains hopeful, vowing a strong comeback in the remaining three group-stage matches.

The Indian Women team, viewed as a title winning contender ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, were humbled by New Zealand in the tournament opener held at Dubai last night.

Chasing a target of 161 set by the Kiwis, India’s batting lineup collapsed, managing just 102 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur ended up being the top-scorer with a modest 15 of 14 balls.

Jemimah Rodrigues backs India despite tough loss vs NZ

However, despite the 58-run embarrassing defeat, Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues hopes for a better future as the tournament is not over yet. She acknowledged that New Zealand came out with intent, creating opportunities, but India failed to capitalise on them.

"Going forward I think we need to have the right approach because the tournament’s not over. We need to take some positives from this game and a lot of learnings from this game. We knew that any team will come hard at us, and I think they came out with a lot of intent. We did create opportunities, but unfortunately we didn’t make the most of it."

Additionally, Jemimah, who had shown promising form in the warm-up games, took responsibility for not stepping up after early wickets fell. Despite the setback, Rodrigues made it clear that the team must move on. 

"I know with my game I’m ready to bat anywhere the team wants me. Today, because I was batting well, I had some form in the warm-up games, it was my responsibility to make sure we built a partnership after losing wickets."


"Today would be the game we’d like to forget. This is a World Cup and we need to keep moving on and picking ourselves up – we can’t say stuck on this game. We need to pick ourselves up and show the character of this team."

Notably, India will face Pakistan on October 6th, followed by matches against Sri Lanka and Australia, as they look to bounce back in the group stage of the tournament.

Controversy erupts in IND vs NZ clash over reversed run-out call

In a heated moment during the match, Amelia Ker got run out while trying to go for a second during Deepti Sharma’s over. However, after New Zealand batters completed the first run, the umpire called it an over and handed Deepti her accessories. 

Hence, technically, the ball was not in play when Kerr went for the second run and fell short on the crease. As Kerr was recalled from the dugout, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a furious chat with the umpires as her team was denied a deserving wicket because of the umpire's fault.