WBBL: Australian T20 Cricket Team Melbourne Stars Ropes In India’s Jemimah Rodrigues

Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues has been signed by the Australian Twenty20 Cricket Franchise Team, Melbourne Stars, for the eighth season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She made history by becoming the first-ever Indian to play for the Stars.

🇮🇳 Our first ever Indian player.

Welcome to the #StarsFamily, @JemiRodrigues!

Details ⏬https://t.co/b51jd8eyiopic.twitter.com/5fxqPQyunB

— Melbourne Stars (@StarsBBL) September 6, 2022

“I am super excited to be a part of the Stars family. I’ve been told that I’m the first ever Indian to sign for the Stars and it is my honour to do so. Melbourne has always been my favourite city in Australia and I can’t wait to get back there,” said Jemimah in a statement to the media.

However, Rodrigues will complete her commitments in the Asia Women’s Cup for India scheduled from October 1 to October 16, 2022 in Bangladesh before she proceeds to join the squad of the Melbourne Stars.

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Born in Mumbai, Rodrigues turned 22-year-old a couple of days back on Sep 5, 2022. She is already reaching career heights after representing 50 T20 Internationals and 21 ODIs. Rodrigues, who made her Women’s Twenty20 International cricket debut against South Africa in 2018, is the second woman after Smriti Mandhana to score a double century in a 50-over cricket match. She was a member of the Indian squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, and was the second-highest run-scorer in the women's Hundred tournament with 249 runs.

On the day of her birthday, she was nominated for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Player of the Month award for August 2022. This came after her notable contributions at the Commonwealth Games 2022 at Edgbaston in Birmingham, where she clinched a silver medal for the women’s T20 event. She scored 33 runs in the final but her 44 runs not out in the semi-finals against England was what ensured India took to the field in the first-ever appearance of women’s T20 at the multi-sport event. Rodrigues scored 146 runs overall at the event.

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In the last season of the WBBL, Rodrigues represented Stars’ cross-town rival Melbourne Renegades and scored 333 runs at a strike rate of over 116. Rodrigues is the third woman cricketer to sign for the WBBL alongside Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been roped in by the Melbourne Renegades, and Pooja Vastrakar who’ll play for the Brisbane Heat.