Jemimah Rodrigues: Why India's batting star is a social media sensation
- Published
Jemimah Rodrigues is a star on and off the cricket field
Women's T20 World Cup final: India v Australia |
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Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Date: Sunday, 8 March Time: 07:00 GMT |
Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Sport website & app; in-play highlights (UK only) & live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app |
Quick question: who is the most entertaining cricketer on social media?
Go on... we'll give you a minute...
The answer? India's Jemimah Rodrigues, of course.
The 19-year-old, aka Lil' J (she's trademarked this!), may be small in stature - 5ft 2in - but she packs a punch on Twitter and Instagram.
Oh, and she's seriously good at cricket - some girls get all the luck, eh?
The world according to 'JeMEMEah' Rodrigues
Being ranked as the ninth best T20 batter in the world might be enough for some, but not Jemimah.
Her 'work hard and play hard' attitude spills over into the world of social media, where fun, dancing and smiles are the norm and where a new hashtag has been born: #jeMEMEah, external.
Her light-hearted Twitter posts and Instagram takeovers have caught the attention of cricket fans, and after she won the award for the 'Strongest Game On Social Media' from Cricbuzz she shared 'live' footage of the presentation ceremony...
Stardom hasn't gone to the teen's head as she takes any opportunity to have fun - whether it's busting moves from a Bollywood number with an off-duty security guard...
...or showing everyone how to stick to those new year's resolutions…
Poor Smriti Mandhana is often the butt of Jemimah's playful jokes...
She's always there to keep up team spirits on the road with a tune on her guitar...
Or be THE person you need on your Cricktionary team…
Sibling love
Jemimah was given her first bat at the age of three and she soon started accompanying her brothers to an all-boys academy.
Long gone are the days just fielding and watching her brothers bat, though family still means mean everything to her…
But she's not afraid to meme at their expense!
In 2017, Mumbai-born Rodrigues became only the second woman to score a double century in 50-over cricket,, external while in last year's Kia Super League, she was the second highest run-scorer in the competition. Honours continually flow her way...
But if she ever gets tired of cricket, she could always turn her hand to reporting…
In the past month she's picked up more than 64,000 new followers on Instagram, and her social media fanbase continues to grow.
So much so, in fact, she appears to have recruited 16-year old Shafali Verma as her bodyguard…
The world really is at her feet, as might the World Cup trophy be in Melbourne come Sunday evening.
All hail India's newest - and funniest - cricketing sensation.