Kajol and Twinkle Khanna welcomed World Cup champions Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma for a special episode of "Two Much with Kajol". During the fun episode, Jemimah revealed how fate almost led her to hockey instead of cricket.
She stated that she used to play cricket before she played hockey, but when they shifted to Bhundup from Bandra, her uncle encouraged her to play hockey. Eventually, she started doing well in hockey and even got selected to play for the state team.
Jemimah said, "We had moved from Bhandup to Bandra because there was a lot of travelling. And that was also a very big move, because Bandra, it’s very expensive to stay there, and we came from a middle class family. So, when I came there, one of my uncles gave me a hockey stick and said ‘Go play, my daughter also plays.’
I played, and I started doing well in hockey too. And the funny story here is, I got selected to play hockey for the state before cricket for the state. So my friends were like okay, Jemi is going to play hockey for India, that’s what they thought.”
However, when the time came to make a choice, Jemimah chose cricket. Revealing the reason behind her choice, she added, “At that level, I had reached a higher level in cricket than hockey, so then we went ahead with cricket. But my dream is still to play both for India."
Reflecting on her early days in cricket, Jemimah said that when she started playing at a club, girls' cricket was not very popular. "So there were no specific nets for girls. So my dad put me in an academy where there were all boys. I think there were 400 boys, and I was the only girl there."
Recalling some memories, she added, "I remember, we used to have this warm-up where you put your hand on each other's shoulder and you swing your legs to get the mobility going. But no boy would come to me. And then even if there was a guy who would come tAalk to me, later his friends would tease him with me. So nobody would really come and talk".