For Jemimah’s Tears

  •   Wed, Nov 05 2025
  •   By Chris Emmanuel D'Souza

November 5, 2025

In the recent times of India: a Week doesn’t start without a communal angle and week wouldn’t end without it. Although this week, the Indian Women’s cricket team were able to surpass the much-hyped Men’s cricket team on two counts off late – Beat Australia in a knock out game and Win the One-day World Cup. The win resulted in outpour of emotions both among players and the millions across the country as the team defied high decibels of outside noise that had doubted their ability. Yet, there was one architect of this glory: Jemimah Rodriguez. The girl from Mumbai, with strong mangalorean roots, who for months before the semi final was fighting depression, went on to play one of the greatest knocks in women’s cricket effectively help sail the team’s sinking ship to the shores. Jemi as she is affectionately called, has been tutored by her dad Ivan Rodrigues and shares a close bond with her father. She was a prodigy and debuted India in her teens, displayed exceptional skills and caught the eyes of English greats like Nasser Hussein, who once tweeted ‘Remember the name – Jemimah’. 

If India could quell the Aussies, they could run the rings around anyone, and the finals was always going to be a cakewalk going with such momentum and a full house crowd. That knock from Jemimah was a catalyst in change of fortunes for the team. The triumph was a bitter-sweet moment for Jemi, both physically and mentally. For a year, the 25 year old was at the receiving end of worst kind of online abuse and hate, orchestrated by a mob that is foddered by the country’s ruling establishment. The consistent and continuous ‘othering’ of people and communities through social media for a decade has created a pond of venom. The hate almost tore her apart, almost ending her career. She later recounted how she fought her fears and openly attributed her success to her Catholic faith and Jesus Christ, even quoting Exodus 14:4. That made matters worse for a section of the mob. 

While, Jemimah abides by the tenets and ethos of her deeply devout catholic family, she flashes highly extrovert behaviour on social media, imprinting her talents. In a country that is undergoing ‘Self-righteous’ image makeover, that carries a load of jobless and ‘underqualified’ youth that smells rage and revenge at every breath, a girl that has out-run them and represents the nation evokes jealousy. Jemimah is a tragic victim of a 'selective yardstick' measured by a growing online mob that wants to shame her, taunt her, break her sprits for the reason that has very little to do with what she said on the night of famous knock but everything to do with her faith she practices. As a minority, (Religious or Ethnic) one has a dagger always hanging over the head, when you win “You’re the cock of the walk” but when you lose “you are a feather duster”.

While rest of her teammates, could exhibit their religiosity without any backlash, Jemimah had to undergo an ordeal. Sportspeople and artists are blessed with immense talent but they are emotionally very sensitive deep down. You cannot expect them to be rational, intellectual. They can become more diplomatic and restrained in their usage of words as they get older. Just imagine former Indian captain Azharuddin thanking God almighty in a post-match talk, he would have been sacked long before the scandal. He was matured and wiser, he knew his country and chose his words carefully. Jemi is 25! She has done nothing wrong in expressing her feelings and power of her faith that helped her in conquering the demons off the field and courage in trouncing an invincible opposition that took India to the finals. In years to come, Jemi will learn it the hard way, and the ability to put forth words in a articulate manner. It is a sad that in open plural democratic societies like India that players have to undergo scrutiny for their beliefs and their expressions, rather than being celebrated for their game, speaks volumes about the direction the country has taken.

 

 

 
By Chris Emmanuel D'Souza
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