Mumbai: Actress Deepika Padukone, a long-time advocate for mental health awareness, has expressed her support for cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues after the latter opened up about her battle with anxiety.
The Om Shanti Om star, who has previously spoken candidly about her own struggle with depression, praised Jemimah for her honesty and courage in starting an important conversation about mental health in sports.
Taking to her Instagram Stories, Deepika reshared a video of Jemimah discussing her mental health challenges ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup tournaments, writing, “Thank you @jemimahrodrigues for your vulnerability and for sharing your story.”
During a post-match press conference, Jemimah became emotional as she recounted how her parents supported her through a difficult period when she often felt numb due to anxiety.
“I’ll be very vulnerable here because I know if someone watching this might be going through the same thing. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety at the start of the tournament. Before some games, I would call my mom and cry,” she shared.
“Sometimes you just feel numb and lost. My parents and Arundhati [Reddy] supported me every single day. I used to joke with her later saying, ‘Don’t come in front of me, I’ll start crying,’ but she always checked on me,” she added.
Jemimah also spoke about being benched in the early matches, admitting that it was mentally challenging. “When you’re dropped, you start doubting yourself. I always want to contribute to the team, but that time I couldn’t. When I came back, the pressure was even greater. But sometimes, all you can do is hang in there and trust things will fall into place,” she said.
Her perseverance paid off — powered by Jemimah’s unbeaten 127, India successfully chased down a record 339 runs at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on October 30, defeating the defending champions by five wickets to seal a spot in Sunday’s final against South Africa.
