"Now people don't care if it's a men's or women's team": Jemimah ahead of ICC WT20 WC

New Delhi [India], September 14 (ANI): Ahead of the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), star India Women's batter Jemimah Rodrigues expressed her thoughts on the growing support for women's cricket over the past few years. India will begin their campaign against New Zealand on October 4, with a highly anticipated clash against arch-rival Pakistan scheduled for October 6.

The Women in Blue, who reached the semi-finals in the previous edition, are placed in Group A of the competition alongside Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Rodrigues recalled that when she started playing cricket, she was only aware of two players, former India Women's captain Mithali Raj and former right-arm seamer Jhulan Goswami.

"When we started playing cricket, at least for me personally, the only two names I knew were Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. I didn't even know how they looked, honestly, because there were no televised games. They achieved success without recognition or fame, and we are now enjoying the fruits of what they have sown. Because of them, we are here," Jemimah said while speaking to Star Sports.

The cricketer further mentioned that one of the key changes in recent years has been the growing excitement to watch women's matches. "Now there's Smriti [Mandhana], Harmanpreet [Kaur], and the next generation that has come up. Everyone knows about women's cricket now. One of the biggest changes over the last few years is the excitement around watching our games," the right-handed batter added.

"People now come and say they don't care if it's a men's or women's team; they just want to see the Indian team play. That excitement, that 'josh' we get, is a turning point, and being part of this generation is the biggest motivation for us," the 24-year-old concluded. All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur will lead a strong 15-member squad for the upcoming marquee event.

Harmanpreet will be assisted by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who is expected to open the batting with Shafali Verma. Dayalan Hemalatha is another top-order option in the squad. Along with them, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh will strengthen an already formidable batting line-up, according to the ICC. Richa is the designated wicketkeeper in the squad, alongside Yastika Bhatia.

Bowling options include Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Sajana Sajeevan, and Shreyanka Patil. India has a good share of all-rounders in Harmanpreet, Sajana, Sobhana, and Deepti. The inclusion of Yastika and Shreyanka is subject to fitness, as both players have been battling injuries over the past couple of months. India will also have three travelling reserves for the event in the UAE. In last year's T20 World Cup, Australia defeated South Africa by 19 runs to win their sixth title. India reached the semi-finals, narrowly losing to Australia by five runs.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan.

Travelling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor.

Non-travelling reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra. (ANI)