India`s World Cup-winning women’s team’s head coach Amol Muzumdar was all praise for Mumbai batter Jemimah Rodrigues’s unbeaten 76 versus New Zealand just before her unbeaten 127 against defending champions Australia in the semi-finals at the DY Patil Stadium on October 30.
“I think that New Zealand game [Jemimah scored a 55-ball 76] was key. Before the New Zealand game, there were a couple of sleepless nights because that was a must-win game. It was like a quarter-final. Only if we win the game, would we get into the semi-finals,” Muzumdar said during a felicitation function at the Bombay Gymkhana on Monday when veteran journalists Rajdeep Sardesai asked him if Jemimah’s knock against Australia in the semi-finals was the turning point.
“We, as a team, always believe that if you have to win the World Cup, we’ll have to beat Australia somewhere down the line. Either in the semi-finals or in the finals. We’ll have to beat them. So we were all geared up for that game. There was no doubt about it. But Jemimah’s knock was a phenomenal one,” Muzumdar added.
Muzumdar also lavished praise on vice captain Smriti Mandhana, especially her stylish cover drive. He said: “Smriti is the best left-hander I’ve ever seen. Her cover drive is beautiful, elegant. There’s a touch of class in her cover drive.”
The function was organised to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of the first-ever Test match played in India from December 15 to 18 in 1933 between the hosts and England at the Bombay Gymkhana ground.