By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 31 : The Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman, Arun Dhumal, feels that Jemimah Rodrigues, with her splendid 127 (134) in the Women's World Cup semi-final against Australia, "replayed" the famous Kapil Dev innings from the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe.
In the pulsating semi-final at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday, Australia blazed their way to a daunting 338, leaving India to gun down the highest run-chase in the history of the Women's World Cup. Jemimah kept India in the run chase after the hosts lost Smriti Mandhana (24) and Shafali Verma (10) in the power play. From 59/2, Jemimah took India past the finishing line. With fortune on her side, Jemimah saw her two catching opportunities go down while pursuing the 339-run target.
She found the ideal support from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (89), Deepti Sharma (24) and Richa Ghosh (26) to script a new record for the highest successful run chase in Women's World Cup history. For Dhumal, Jemimah "replayed" Kapil's unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup, a performance which wasn't televised. During Kapil's memorable exploits, India was struggling at 5/17 before Kapil delivered a batting masterclass.
During India's group stage encounter against Australia, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side fell to a defeat despite posting 330 on the board.
The IPL chairman classified Jemimah's memorable outing as the best in the ongoing marquee event
"It was phenomenal to watch Jemimah, the way she played the way she did yesterday. In fact, none of us remembers Kapil Dev's innings against Zimbabwe. So she replayed that inning, you know, that was played for the quarter-final, and Jemimah did what Kapil Paji did long back, which was unfortunately not broadcast, but this was fortunately broadcast," Dhumal said while speaking exclusively to ANI.
Jemimah didn't have a dream start to the tournament, notching scores of 0, 32, 0, and 33 before being dropped in the group-stage fixture against England in Indore. The local hero from Mumbai returned to the final XI in the semi-final and enchanted her home crowd with a performance to remember.
"The entire India and the entire world watched how Jemimah led the team and the way she played when the team was down under. Smriti had been in a phenomenal run in this tournament, but we lost a wicket and the way she played under pressure. It was a phenomenal inning, and she fought till the finish. And the way she played this winning was outplayed every other inning in this tournament," Dhumal added.
After denying Australia the opportunity to defend their crown, India will now square off against South Africa at the same venue in Navi Mumbai on Sunday for the coveted title.