Mumbai: Having won the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup at home, India’s batting star Jemimah Rodrigues said the team is hungrier to win the ICC T20 World Cup, to be played in England in June-July.
“It is a bigger motivation now since we have won one (ODI World Cup) and we are looking forward to it,” said Jemimah, who played the most important innings of her life in the semi-finals to knock out favourites Australia with an unbeaten 127.
Jemimah started slowly in the ODI Women’s World Cup but made the difference in the business end of the tournament to finish with 292 runs in seven innings at an average of 58.40. India will look to her for repeating her heroics in the English summer.
“After winning a World Cup you can get complacent but this team is hungrier to win it again. That’s the plan and that is the entire motivation,” said the Mumbai cricketer, seated next to India coach Amol Muzumdar and former India spinner Nilesh Kulkarni at the IISM Convocation Ceremony held in Mumbai.
“The first series itself that we played against Sri Lanka after winning the 2025 World Cup, that day we came into the huddle and said this is where we want to start for the next World Cup, so the preparations have been great.”
The India squad for the Women’s T20 tournament was picked on Saturday. The selection of 24-year-old uncapped pacer Nandani Sharma was the talking point of the squad. No one knows her game better than Jemimah, having captained her at Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League.
Nandani was the breakthrough star from last season’s WPL. In her maiden WPL season, she emerged the joint top wicket-taker with 17 scalps. The Chandigarh cricketer was named the emerging player of the season in WPL 2026.
“Nandani has been a great player for us throughout the WPL. To be honest, when we got her, we didn’t know what to expect. We knew she had the talent. When she came on to the bigger stage of WPL in front of the world, the way she delivered, not just that five-wicket haul, every single game she was consistent. I know this team, it is going to welcome her, prepare her well and there is a lot of experience in this team and that is going to get the best out of her,” said Jemimah.
The key for the team will be acclimatising to the conditions in England where there will be help for the pacers. Amol Muzumdar said the team will take confidence from their performance against England last year.
“Travelling to England is always a challenge but this team and this set of players is ready for it. We had a very good series last year, we went on to win against England and that was the first time in history we had beaten England in England in a T20I series. The experience and confidence is there, all we need to do is travel well and do well there.”