New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) India batter Jemimah Rodrigues has revealed that batting legend Sachin Tendulkar asked her coach to convey a simple but powerful message ahead of the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup final – to keep her epic semi-final knock aside and start from zero in the title clash.

India, who eventually won the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, are now aiming to win another ICC title on the trot when the Women’s T20 World Cup begins in England on June 12, with Lord’s scheduled to host the final on July 5.

“Sachin sir called my coach Prashant Shetty. He asked him to tell me that he understood the past couple of days had been a lot for me, the big knock against Australia in the semi-final, the joy of beating them. But he reminded me that the job was not over yet. We still had a final to win.

“He said, try to put that aside and start from zero. That message really helped me reset my mind. I understood that what you did before does not win you the next game. You must treat every match as a new start. That advice from a legend gave me so much clarity before the final,” said Jemimah on JioStar.

Shafali Verma, who played a match‑winning role with both bat and ball, recalled her father’s motivating message ahead of the title clash in Navi Mumbai. “We had two off days before the final. My dad sent me a voice note. He said, ‘Just work hard. Give your best on the field. And it has to be in writing that Shafali Verma helped India win the World Cup.’ That voice note gave me extra fire. I knew I had to perform not just for myself, but for him and for the team. It pushed me to give everything I had on the field.”

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur reflected on the team’s mindset and her instinctive call to hand the ball to Shafali, as she picked two game-changing wickets. “In the past, we have played South Africa many times and won most of those matches.

“The league game against them had its ups and downs, but we were still confident. The only thing we discussed was: if we bat first in the final, don’t go in expecting to score 300 runs. If you carry that expectation, you will end up making mistakes. Even though we had five proper bowlers, I don’t know why her name kept coming to my mind.

“I felt it was her day, so I had to use her somehow. Then Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus started building a partnership. That was the moment I knew I had to bring on Shafali. If that partnership grew, our chances of winning would drop.

“Chasing 300 on that sticky pitch was not as hard in the second innings because of the dew. It had rained and the outfield was wet. It was doing a lot off the surface. So, I asked Shafali if she wanted to bowl. She said yes with great confidence: ‘I will bowl, and I will take wickets,” she concluded.

–IANS

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