India, Oct. 31 -- When a 12-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues walked into the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune years ago, cricket wasn't her only goal. Her father, Ivan Rodrigues, had simply taken her there to watch the Maharashtra under-19 hockey trials. It was meant to be a lesson in how sports selections worked, not a career move.

But then someone passed her the ball.

"When someone passed me the ball, I reverse-scooped it at the right-hand side corner," Jemimah recalled in a social media post. "The people sitting outside, along with the guest of honour, were amazed. And he's like, 'Who's that girl? That girl has to be there.' That's how I got my first Maharashtra selection."

That spontaneous stroke of flair marked the start of Jemimah's jou...