IND vs ENG, Women’s World Cup 2025: Here’s why Jemimah Rodrigues is not playing today’s match

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In a pivotal clash for the final semi-final spot in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, a struggling Indian side is facing the unbeaten England challenge at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. India, after a bright start with victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, has lost momentum with consecutive defeats to South Africa and Australia, placing immense pressure on the hosts. With England needing one win to secure their Top 4 spot, the importance of this match for India’s campaign cannot be overstated. After winning the toss, England elected to bowl first, setting the stage for a high-stakes encounter where India must deliver. The pressure has forced the Indian team management to make a significant and telling change to the Playing XI.

The biggest news from the toss is the bold team change by India: dropping experienced middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues and replacing her with specialist swing bowler Renuka Singh Thakur. This decision was explicitly tactical, aimed at bolstering a bowling attack that had been exposed in the previous two defeats. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur confirmed the move, stating, “Jemi is not playing today and Renuka is playing… She (Renuka) has a great record against England and that was the biggest reason we wanted her back in the side.” This highlights the team’s intent to leverage Renuka’s ability to swing the new ball and exploit England’s known vulnerability to pace and movement, a high-risk, high-reward strategy to secure the crucial wicket of a semi-final berth.

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Jemimah’s omission from the Playing XI for the must-win clash against England is a decisive move by the Indian management, directly resulting from her underwhelming performance in the CWC 2025 campaign. The middle-order batter, typically a vital cog in India’s limited-overs setup, has struggled to find form and consistency, recording only 65 runs across her four innings in the tournament, a tally completely devoid of a single half-century.

Her disappointing run is particularly defined by her struggles to negotiate the new ball and the spinners, resulting in two ducks, including a golden duck in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka and another zero against South Africa. While she showed a brief flicker of form with a quick 33-run cameo against Australia in the previous match, her average of just 16.25 and an overall lack of impactful contributions left a significant void in the Indian middle-order, especially when the team needed a reliable batter to convert starts after the openers’ success.

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This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.