The vibe and the energy of M Chinnaswamy can rarely be matched by any other venue in the country. Come the IPL and the sea of red engulfs the stadium, the decibel levels reach a manic level. But that’s the IPL, What about WPL, then? Would the Bengaluru crowd warm up to WPL? Well, they did, and in grand style. For every RCB fixture, the stadium was packed, and at the toss, if you closed your eyes, the deafening noise would have made you think it was Faf du Plessis in the middle and not Smirit Mandhana. The Bengaluru leg of WPL 2024 was – in short – a super hit. It was time for Delhi to follow suit.
WPL 2024 – FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | POINTS TABLE | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP
And the home franchise captain Meg Lanning would have hoped for something similar at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. After all, Delhi Capitals has looked like a gun team and has enough ammunition for support as well in Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues to name the two standouts. Not to forget Lanning, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kaap and Titas Sadhu.
Yet, the opening fixture of the second leg of WPL 2024 between defending champions Mumbai Indians and home team DC – the two table-toppers – in cool, refreshing weather, unfortunately turned out to be, well rather cold. The top two teams of the tournament were greeted by near-empty stands – minuscule footfall, low energy. It wasn’t the start WPL 2024 would have hoped for their Delhi leg.
However, the match and the action were far from a drag. Fortunately, the atmosphere turned lively when DC batters teed off at their home ground. Skipper Lanning led the charge with a half-century before Rodrigues took centerstage with a blazing unbeaten knock of 65 runs.
Playing for the first time in Delhi, Rodrigues was in a completely different zone while facing the Mumbai attack. Following a cautious start to her innings, where she was on 13 off 14 balls at one stage, she hit the top gear to notch this season’s maiden fifty in the next 15 deliveries. The 23-year-old isn’t known for taking aerial routes often. Instead, she’s well-versed in finding gaps. But the innings she played on Tuesday night was a mix of both. She smashed as many as eight boundaries and three sixes during her brief stay at the crease, taking DC to a huge score of 192/4.
“More than anything else today it was what I needed to do for the team to get a good score. I never imagined that it would be a 33-ball 69. I was just wanting to get the team to a good score. One thing that was really good about my game today was from the first ball, I had the intent, like, even though I didn’t like to go bang-bang from the first ball, but in my stride, the way I was timing the ball, I think that intent was very important for me and it gets me going, um and gets my feet in good positions,” said Rodrigues after the game.
Saying that Rodrigues isn’t a really good six-hitter may be wrong as she does trust her ability to find the ropes frequently. And coming to WPL, she knew a batter has to have all kinds of shots at her disposal.
“Coming into the WPL, you need all sorts of shots and I can’t stick to just one set pattern. I need to keep improving with the game. And working on power-hitting was not just now or just before the WPL.
“It’s been a long process for so many years. For me, I need to put a little more effort than the others to hit the sixes. But I rely a lot on my timing and my bat swing. And I think just that today just came off really well,” she added.
‘…That is something I learned from Virat Kohli’
The mantra is simple. If not a maximum, then try to find gaps and get as many runs as possible to keep the scoreboard ticking. Rodrigues draws inspiration from Virat Kohli because ultimately, intent matters more than the kinds of shots you play.
“I don’t try to hit sixes. I try to hit the ball in the gap. If it’s hit too well, it goes for the six. And I think that is something I learned from Virat Kohli,” Rodrigues said.
“I think he does that really well. And I really look up to him because we have similar positions in the Indian team. The way he goes about, he runs well between the wickets. He has intent while batting. Even when he hits sixes, he hits it in the gaps. So, if he hits it, it’s either two runs, four runs, or a six if he hits it too well,” she added.
‘Just be a Jemimah Rodrigues and everything will be fine’
The last couple of outings were frustrating for Rodrigues. A duck against RCB and 7 against Gujarat Giants; things were not going as expected for her. But thanks to the ‘really good’ people around her, Rodrigues managed to find her grove again.
“I think it was those two innings which actually, gave me a lot of learning. I was trying to play something I was not. Trying to go out there and hit because I just wanted to keep the tempo going or just sometimes just seeing everyone around you go out there.
“I’ve spoken a lot to Arundhati [Reddy]. She helped me a lot. Then Laura Harris in our team, she was the one who said, ‘You have such good hands, you manoeuvre the field so well, I think just stick to that, that will help you.
“Then Smriti messaged me, saying, ‘Just don’t try to be someone else, be a Jemimah Rodrigues and you’ll be fine’. And then after that, my dad said, ‘You just play your game, just be positive and, and, you know, just be you and you find the gaps effortlessly. Everyone, you know, the people who hit up, that is their strength, but no one can pick gaps the way you pick gaps.’
‘And today, even before walking into the field, Lisa, our coach, came to me and said the same thing. I’m so blessed to have so many nice people around me to help me and also this team, you know, I love being a part of the Delhi family,” she added.
Low bounce – a blessing in disguise
The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was fresh and largely aiding the batters. The lack of bounce helped Rodrigues.
“I think this is the first time I’ve played in Delhi. This wicket was very similar to the wickets in Ranchi, which are low, but it comes on the bat. And I think that suits my game a lot. I think that the experience of how I played in Ranchi was the same thing. I was like, ‘I need to get that here’. Even in my stance, I stayed a little low because there was no bounce. So, if you stay low, it’s easier to time the ball and hit through the gaps,” she added
Comments
0 comment