How India bounce back from their T20 World Cup upset at the hands of New Zealand will demonstrate the character of the side, Jemimah Rodrigues says.
It will also have a huge bearing on their semi-final prospects with Group A - the tournament's 'group of death' - delicately poised just two days in following New Zealand's 58-run victory in Dubai on Friday and Pakistan's fightback against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on the opening day.
Australia, the defending champions and title favourites, open their campaign on Saturday against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, South Africa defeated West Indies by 10 wickets in the earlier game on Friday to join Bangladesh at the top of Group B, with Bangladesh to play England on Saturday.
And it will require some turnaround from India. Bowled out for 102 chasing 161 for victory, none of their batters passed captain Harmanpreet Kaur's 15 runs from No.3, and only five reached double-figures, including Rodrigues with 13 batting at No. 4. For New Zealand, seamers Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu took 4 for 19 and 3 for 15 respectively.
"Today would be the game we would like to forget, because this is a World Cup," Rodrigues said. "We need to keep moving on and keep picking ourselves up. We can't stay stuck at this game. We need to pick ourselves up, and I think that will show the character of this team.
"We know every game from here is so crucial for us. We know that, but at the same time, we're going to go one game at a time and just make sure we stick to our process and do our job well. If we can do that, I think we play our best cricket, I think we can win matches."
New Zealand laid the foundation for victory with a 67-run opening stand between Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer, who attacked the powerplay, followed by captain Sophie Devine's powerful 57 not out from 36 balls.
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