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Jemimah Rodrigues opened up on the fake ‘religious conversion’ claims that led to her Khar Gymkhana suspension, saying the false allegations against her family “broke” her.
Jemimah Rodrigues played a giant role in India’s Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 title win. (Picture Credit: AP)
Jemimah Rodrigues has finally opened up in regards to the Khar Gymkhana controversy, which led to the suspension of her club membership last yr. Members of the club alleged that her father, Ivan, had used her membership to book a hall for religious activities, with unsubstantiated news reports claiming them to be ‘conversions’.
Rordigues’ family was witch-hunted, and their social media was full of hateful comments. The Gymkhana’s president, Vivek Devnani, had denied the allegations on the time, calling them politically motivated ahead of the club’s elections. Some media houses took down the stories eventually, however the impact that it left on the Indian cricketer couldn’t be reversed.
“To be honest, I remember when that happened, it was one thing for me to face it, but when my parents were dragged into it for something we didn’t do, it really hurt,” she told India Today. “Every part we did at the moment was in line with the principles and regulations — and we had proof of that. However the allegations made against me and my family really affected us deeply because we had done nothing fallacious.”
Rodrigues recently played a key role in India’s historic 2025 World Cup victory. She hit a match-winning century within the semi-final against the mighty Australians and have become the nation’s darling. Nevertheless, at the moment, she was anything but, considering India’s poor T20 World Cup campaign within the UAE.
“That happened right after the World Cup in Dubai, where we hadn’t done well. I personally hadn’t performed to my expectations and was already feeling low. Then suddenly, I began seeing news, messages, and folks saying terrible things about me — and worse, about my family and my church. That broke me. I remember my brother calling me, and I just began crying. I didn’t know what to do. It felt like one blow after one other — first my performance, after which false allegations about my family,” she said.
Now a World Cup winner, Rodrigues continues to be not resistant to the vile religion-based targeting, as was seen when she didn’t perform in the ultimate against South Africa, and even after India’s triumph was sealed.
November 13, 2025, 21:42 IST
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