Jemimah Rodrigues was in tears. Tears of joy, tears of relief, tears of victory, not just against the nearly invincible Australians, but also against her inner demons.
“Almost every day I cried before my mom because of the anxiety I was going through. Smriti (Mandhana) helped me and she knew what I was going through,” Jemimah, unable to hold back her tears, said at the post-match media conference on Thursday.
“Friends who I can call family, everyone stood by me during this last month. I am really grateful to the people who believed in me. I knew that if I could hang in, I would come up trumps. Last month wasn’t the easiest, so it does feel like a dream.
“I’m saving my best now for the final.”
Jemimah’s unbeaten 127 has sealed India’s World Cup final berth against South Africa here on Sunday.
Looking back at the phase when she was tiring, Jemimah said: “I was praying and talking to myself. Because of tiredness, I played a few false shots. When Harrydi (Harmanpreet Kaur) got out, it was a tricky phase, so I made my mind up to take it deep.”
The close but unsuccessful run chases India have had against Australia in the past were also a lesson for her. “I have been a part of three chases against Australia where we needed a run-a-ball and still lost from there. So those games were a learning.
“This time, I wanted to stay till the end and take my team through.”
Stronger in the mind and wiser in her game, Jemimah has one more hurdle to cross.