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NEW DELHI: India women’s World Cup winning star Jemimah Rodrigues said she “enjoys” leadership and would fully embrace the responsibility of captaining the national team if the opportunity arises in the future.

India lifted the Women’s World Cup by beating South Africa under 36 year old Harmanpreet Kaur in November with Jemimah playing the innings of her life in the semifinal against seven time champions Australia where she struck an unbeaten century.

She will now lead Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League starting Friday with the young Mumbai batter’s leadership qualities expected to be closely watched as India plan for the future.

"I've always enjoyed leading, I've led my state team and even the Challengers Trophy, the zone team...a lot in domestic (cricket). I genuinely feel that, having that added responsibility as a leader, it gets the best out of me because as a leader, then you have to lead from the front," said Jemimah.

WPL captaincy a big learning curve

"I think, that's (leading the country) the motivation for me and it really gets the best out of me. Definitely, you know, leading in a state (tournament) like the WPL, it's going to be great learnings for me, a great experience at the same time and not just develop me as a captain, but also as a player.

"Because, you know, you have to start thinking out of the box...I'm always thinking what the batter is going to do or what the bowler is going to do," the 25 year old added during a media interaction when asked if captaining a WPL side could be a stepping stone to leading India.

Calm but aggressive approach

Jemimah said she prefers to maintain a calm presence on the field while also bringing in aggression depending on the situation.

"On the field, it is more on the calmer side. But at the same time, I like to think a little more aggressive. And I think that is kind of my side.

"My personality won't change as much. But if you've noticed, every time I step on the field, I get into my zone, whether I'm batting or whether I'm on the field involved in maybe a little adjustments in the field placement.

"So, I think, my captaincy side, because I've also led Mumbai for many years, I think it is more on the calmer side. But at the same time, I like to think a little more aggressive. And I think that is kind of my side. I'll just be a little more involved in making more decisions," she said.

Learning from Meg Lanning

With Meg Lanning having led Delhi Capitals to three finals Jemimah said she has already benefited from the Australian great’s experience.

"Yeah, actually, last year I did pick her brains a little on captaincy. I did speak to her about how she she dealt with it (captaincy) at a very young age, what is important for captaincy. So she has passed on a lot of her experience.

"And, I'm really looking forward to this season. Meg has been one of the greatest captains I've ever played under. What she's done for DC has just been phenomenal. And, I couldn't ask for a better person to learn from."

Lessons from Harmanpreet and Smriti

On whether playing alongside Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana helped shape her leadership Jemimah praised both senior players while stressing the importance of developing her own style.

"One thing I've also learned is that everyone has a different style of captaincy. And I think my biggest learning would be to find your own style. But at the same time, I get to learn so much. Like Harry didi (Harmanpreet)... she's more of the aggressive captain.

"She wants to be involved in everything that's happening. And she wants to lead from the front, especially on the big stage. When the moment matters the most, I think Harry didi is always the one like, 'I want to go there and perform and make sure my team wins'.

"And then from Smriti, I've learned how to stay calm. She's very tactical, how she plans, how she goes about with her decisions. She's a very smart cricketer. And the relation the bowlers have with her. I think, that is a very big learning."

Delhi Capitals will open their WPL campaign against Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai on January 10.

(With PTI Inputs)