'It was a long awaited one' - Jemimah Rodrigues on maiden ton

Jemimah Rodrigues's international career has been a roller-coaster ride. From being touted as a prodigious talent to then being dropped from the white-ball setup, the 24-year-old saw the highs and lows rather abruptly. It also didn't help Rodrigues' cause that she had been shunted up and down the order in several batting positions.

However, under the current team management, the thinking seems to be to use her as a middle order batter and it was fitting that her maiden international ton came while batting in the aforementioned role. Having made her ODI debut in 2018, it's taken close to seven years and 41 innings for Rodrigues to register her first three-figure score and the feeling of jubilation in her was hard to miss at the post-match press conference.

"Yeah, it feels great, It was a long-awaited one but I am so happy I could do it for the team today," gushed Rodrigues.

Her maiden international ton was laced with history as India registered their highest-ever total in ODIs, a mammoth 370/5 in 50 overs. It set up a crushing 116-run win for the home side who pocketed the series with a game to spare. It meant a double whammy for Rodrigues but she chose to keep herself grounded in this moment of glory.

"Yeah, it feels good but yeah there are a lot of places we can still improve as a team because we always look to keep improving and we have spoken that when we do well we will try and be a little more critical about how we can get better than that. So, yeah, next game, hope so, 400."

Apart from Rodrigues' special ton, the other major positive for India has been the way the new opening pair has combined from the get-go. Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal both scored fifties, en route to their third century stand in just five innings together. They have also stitched a fifty-plus partnership. Today's stand of 156 was the fastest 150-plus stand by an Indian pair in ODIs. A solid platform upfront is a big box ticked for any side if they are to post big scores and Rodrigues was quick to acknowledge the work done by India's openers. However, India did lose Mandhana and Rawal off successive deliveries, which meant that Rodrigues and Harleen Deol had to bide their time just a wee bit initially.

"Yeah, of course, if your openers give you that kind of a start, you know, it is always much more easier for us to handle the middle overs and take it well but yeah, two back-to-back wickets so Harleen and I had to just give ourselves some time because I think Ireland bowlers were also on top at that time. So, I think one thing about 50 over matches, you know, we can take a little bit of time and that is what we did, we calculated it well, we said till the 40th over we will just play risk-free cricket and we know we can always make up for it."

While she was keen to get to her maiden century, Rodrigues insisted that it wasn't something that was affecting her during her stay at the crease, especially as she went deeper into the innings. Having missed out on potential opportunities in the recent past, she was keen to go the full distance today.

"I honestly did not think of it till I think I was around in my 80s but again I just tried to keep small-small targets and just kept achieving it and I like the way that I shifted gears today because initially I showed a lot of patience which was again a big positive for me because it is important for me to spend time there to get those runs and, you know, I was getting the runs but I was not spending enough time to make it bigger so I was happy I could do that today."

Rodrigues made just nine in the opening game of the series and was visibly upset after getting out in the manner that she did. Known to wear her heart on her sleeves on the field, she explained how bubbling in emotions keeps her ticking, irrespective of whether it's at high or low levels.

"I was very angry at myself but at the same time I needed to be positive towards myself because that works for me, you know, if I keep being too harsh on myself I go very low but it was important for me to keep being positive rather than thinking, okay, I got out but next match what I could do better, what I needed to do so I tried to get back to, I have scored hundreds in U-19, scored 200 as well, so I tried to get back to what I used to do then and today I tried to apply it and it came off well."

As has been the case in recent years wherever India has played at home, the crowd support in Rajkot was vociferous. Rodrigues was extremely pleased at the support received and hoped that India's players could go on to inspire more girls to take up the sport in the country.

"Honestly, their energy is at a different level. So, I enjoy it a lot on the ground because I love feeding off the energy of the crowd and non-stop I think from morning to evening they are shouting so hats off to them and it was so nice to see Saurashtra Cricket supporting schools to come and watch the game because you never know if we as a team can inspire even one person from there, it is a big win for us."