We all have heroes around us. We have often heard their stories and wondered what made shine. It is very often luck and resources that we cite to hide other variables. In the ninth episode of Cricket with Queens, Vishal Yadav sits with the most talkative member of the current Indian team. With this adjective, it shouldn’t be hard for fans to guess Jemimah is making her debut on Female Cricket’s chat show Cricket With Queens.
Unlike all her debuts, this was easy and fun experience with nerves all but relaxed and smiles all around. Jemimah and her emergence or growth as a player feel deal and well placed. At one point, Vishal points out that things seem to have fallen in place for India’s premier allrounder. However, what a lot of viewers might miss, Jemimah’s parents have been very supportive of her passion and have encouraged their daughter to pursue a sporting career.
This can be known from the fact that Jemimah has played hockey for her state. She revisits the days when her brothers would play and she had to field being a kid. She would field for an hour to bat a few minutes. Parents have been pushing her to achieve her dreams. In the seventh standard during her schooling that Jemimah was fully absorbed into sports. She was either playing cricket or involved in Hockey. Unlike traditional parents, Jemimah was not forced by guardians to part way from her passion.
An interesting moment, that Jemimah recalls, comes from her Tenth standard boards. Jemimah had thought of leaving the game for a time and focusing on her studies. It was then her father that asked the naive kid to not give up the game. Players and their guardians will tell you that it takes a mammoth amount of courage and belief, on the part of the parents, to encourage their kids to follow the dreams and care none for the societal norms and the pressure.
We can best understand the struggle and the support of her parents given in her own words. She says that it was because of her father that she played cricket. She remembers her father as a constant motivation. He would take her to practice and to the drills. In her normal candid way, she reveals that her father, while training, has been something like Aamir Khan of Dangal.
Apart from this, she adds, her parents have been a constant support system. She feels lucky to have her parents backing her all the time.
For more insightful chats, fans can watch the full episode here.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.