MUMBAI: Stardom can transform careers, yet some players never lose sight of the people who first helped them take shape. India\u2019s top-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues, celebrated for her role in India Women\u2019s successful 2025 Women\u2019s ODI World Cup campaign, has honoured her childhood coach, Prashant Shetty, with a brand-new SUV.<\/p>\n
Rodrigues\u2019 gesture is not without precedent. On Teachers\u2019 Day in 2014, Virat Kohli had presented his childhood coach with a car, a story later detailed by Rajkumar Sharma in a 2016 book. A similar show of gratitude came from the Pandya brothers\u2014Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya\u2014who supported their childhood coach, Jitendra Singh, with financial help estimated at around Rs 70-80 lakh, which included the purchase of a vehicle.<\/p>\n
Shetty has been working with Rodrigues since she was nine years old. That is when she first arrived at the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra with her father Ivan\u2014himself a mechanical engineer and a cricket coach\u2014looking to begin her journey through the club\u2019s cricket academy.<\/p>\n
Over the last two decades, the 25-year-old batter has continued to train under Shetty. Now, he has also launched his \u201cKkalpavriksha Cricket Clinic\u201d in Bandra. Even on Saturday, Rodrigues went through a practice session with him. She is scheduled to travel to Bengaluru soon to join the India women\u2019s team preparatory camp at the BCCI\u2019s Centre of Excellence, to run from May 10 to 16. After that, she will accompany the squad for a three-match T20I series in England, followed by the 2026 Women\u2019s T20 World Cup in June and July.<\/p>\n
After Rodrigues struck an unbeaten 76 against the New Zealand women\u2019s national team in a decisive match, she followed it with a commanding unbeaten 127 from 134 balls against the Australia women\u2019s national team in the semifinals of the 2025 Women\u2019s ODI World Cup at the DY Patil Stadium. In the wake of those performances, Shetty had spoken about how a nine-year-old Bandra girl first walked into the MIG Cricket Club with the dream of becoming a cricketer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter seeing a glimpse of her talent, I decided to enrol her in our academy. The issue was that MIG Club only had a boys\u2019 academy at that time. I spoke to the club officials, who know me well because I had also played for the club, and explained that she was a genuinely talented girl. Letting her practise here might not help the club, but it would help that girl. Once they were convinced by my reasoning, they made a special exception for Jemimah,\u201d Shetty had said.<\/p>\n
To many fans, Rodrigues is known as a grounded Bandra girl who enjoys playing the guitar, and she was among the standout performers in India\u2019s maiden Women\u2019s ODI World Cup win last year. Her latest gesture underlines how deeply she remains connected to her principles and roots.<\/p>\n
Shetty, meanwhile, is also the head coach of Thane Skyrisers in the Mumbai Cricket Association\u2019s first Women\u2019s T20 League, which is set to begin next month. He additionally coaches Maharashtra and Delhi Capitals batter Prithvi Shaw, along with Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings opener Ayush Mhatre.<\/p>\n
Stay connected for more updates on the latest IPL live scores, IPL news, the IPL schedule, the IPL points table, and the competition for the Orange Cap and Purple Cap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MUMBAI: Stardom can transform careers, yet some players never lose sight of the people who first helped them take shape. India\u2019s top-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Jemimah Rodrigues SUV Gift: IPL Cricket News Today","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Jemimah Rodrigues gifts childhood coach Prashant Shetty a brand-new SUV\u2014heartwarming IPL cricket news today highlighting gratitude beyond the pitch.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n