Bengaluru, May 22 (IANS) India batter Jemimah Rodrigues said the team’s triumph at the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup last year has given the squad fresh motivation to improve further, describing the hunger for success as ‘like an addiction.’ India go into the competition, to be played from June 12 to July 5 in England, on the back of winning the Women’s ODI World Cup on home soil last year.

The T20 World Cup-bound team will also play in a preparatory three-match T20I series against England, starting on May 28, ahead of the mega event. India will kick off their Group A campaign on 14 June against Pakistan, and will also take on Australia, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

“The team is very charged up. I think what has happened again with that World Cup is that it’s empowered us to be more motivated to do well. You win one, it’s like, it’s a little negative word, but it’s like an addiction.

“Like, you want to win another one. It pushes you more, and I think this group is showing that so much. Like, right from the time we started again, they’ve had that, nahi aur ek jeetna hai,” Jemimah said in a video posted on the BCCI Women’s X account on Friday.

India will be looking to improve on their group stage exit from the 2024 edition of the competition. “Even a lot of time during our Australia series, Harry did in the huddle, she’ll tell us, you remember that feeling? How did that feel? We want to do it again. Let’s play for that feeling, and that’s how we used to enter the ground. So I think that has given us a lot of motivation to get better,” added Jemimah.

Before the Indian team leaves for England, Jemimah posted a video on Instagram about reuniting with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar for another singing and guitar-related collab, continuing a bond that began during India’s Women’s ODI World Cup‑winning campaign in 2025. Jemimah captioned the post as, “Promise Kept. Sunil sir has my heart. Thank you for being the man you are. A real legend.”

–IANS

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