“Once Shafali came in, she was going to be under pressure” - WV Raman on what’s going wrong with Jemimah Rodrigues

Former India women’s coach WV Raman feels Shafali Verma’s arrival on the international scene has put additional pressure on Jemimah Rodrigues, which is why she has not been able to cement her spot in white-ball cricket. Raman also admitted that the decision to make her open, probably left Rodrigues confused about her role in the team.

Rodrigues is part of the Indian squad that is currently in Australia. However, she last played an ODI against England in July and a T20I against South Africa in March.

According to Raman, the 21-year-old is struggling due to lack of confidence and the arrival of Shafali on the scene. The former India opener admitted in an interaction organized by Sony:

“Once Shafali (Verma) came in, she was obviously going to be under pressure (thinking that) she would probably be overlooked in favor of Shafali. But again, she has worked on her batting also. Because of the lack of runs, her technique also was a little bit awry. She developed a few faults and that’s something we had a chat about.”

He added that Rodrigues was perhaps left confused after being asked to do what did not come naturally to her - opening the innings. Raman elaborated:

“I think there is a little bit of confusion in her mind as to what she has to do. The problem was that even in the one-day format I felt that they were making her do what was not her natural thing, which was making her open. I have no qualms in accepting the fact that she opened when I was the coach as well. But that was done because otherwise you would not play her in the XI. The situation was something like that, which I didn’t want. I wanted a talented batter like her to be given a run of chances and work it out.”

The 56-year-old pointed out that Rodrigues started playing too many shots too early, and that hasn’t helped her cause. He added:

“When you are starting off and when the situation is such that when some players cannot have a great choice in determining what is it that they want to do, they have to do what the team wants them to do. It perhaps created a little bit of confusion because she would play shots too soon and get out in the 50-overs format.”

Was heartening to see Jemimah Rodrigues get runs in The Hundred: WV Raman

Jemimah Rodrigues smashes one in The Hundred. Pic: Getty Images

Rodrigues impressed in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, smashing three fifties for Northern Superchargers, including an 92 not out off 43 balls.

According to Raman, success in The Hundred should boost her confidence. He also backed Rodrigues to do well in case she got a chance in the T20Is in Australia. Raman concluded:

“But it was heartening to see her get runs in The Hundred, which means she was getting runs in a country where there was a lot of movement and the pitches are reasonably tricky. That would have given her a lot of confidence. If she plays in the T20 games against Australia, she would do well, I am sure, because of the bounce that you get on the tracks. Jemi is someone who can use the angles and also play over the top against the seamers.”

The first of the three T20Is will be played at the Carrara Oval in Queensland on Thursday.