Never felt like Jemimah was under a lot of pressure, says long-time coach Shetty

New Delhi: With the pitch at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai being good for batting, it was no surprise to see Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal set the foundation for India’s crucial 53-run win over New Zealand with scintillating centuries.

But there was another important cog in India’s wheel of posting a huge 340/3 in 49 overs – local girl Jemimah Rodrigues coming out at number three to hit an unbeaten 76 off 55 balls. It was a game where Jemimah rewrote her World Cup narrative – after bagging two ducks and losing her spot in the playing eleven in the four-run loss to England in Indore.

As India booked their semi-final spot in front of a record 23,180 spectators, it also announced the return to form for Jemimah, who hit the fastest fifty for India in the ongoing competition in 38 balls. Seeing Jemimah soar high with the bat left her long-time coach, Prashant Shetty, beaming with pride and happiness.

“It was very good and she played very well right from the start. It never felt like that she was under a lot of pressure or wasn’t in the team in the game before this and had to do something. She played with absolute confidence from the first ball and she kept a good momentum, as well as played the situation well,” said Shetty in an exclusive conversation with IANS from Mumbai.

Before the unbeaten 76, Jemimah’s time in the World Cup wasn’t sailing smoothly – two ducks, knocks of 32 and 33 and when the India team brought in a sixth bowler for the match against England, the right-handed batter found herself out of the eleven. Shetty, who’s coached the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw and Arjun Tendulkar among others, recalled the emotions Jemimah had after being left out of the clash against England.

“Mindset-wise, she was feeling very bad. Obviously, when she was preparing, she had it in her to score a lot of runs for the team and play a very important role in making the team win. So she entered the tournament with that mindset, but she never felt for even one percent that she would be dropped in the competition.”

“So that was a big setback for her and it felt like a dream collapsing. She was very upset in her process to come out of that mindset and found it very difficult to accept that she got dropped because the performances weren’t behind her. In all, it was a big setback for her,” he said.

The criticism of Jemimah being dismissed while playing the sweep shot was swift and unsparing. In the depths of disappointment, Jemimah’s support system of coach Shetty and her parents, Ivan and Lavita, worked in harmony to give her a reminder that all was not over yet and that she can still be in the eleven and make the team win in the run-up to the clash in Navi Mumbai.

Over the years, Jemimah’s support system has worked in harmony – Shetty would talk to her parents first and if he said something, they would continue that conversation with her. If her parents say something, Shetty continues the chat in the same vein with Jemimah, so that she doesn’t get to hear different voices. IANS

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