Jemimah Rodrigues opens up on allegations against her family over Khar Gymkhana row, ‘affected us…’

India women’s cricket team star Jemimah Rodrigues has opened up on the Khar Gymkhana controversy which she and her family were involved in earlier in 2024. The star, who was India’s hero in the Women’s World Cup 2025 semi-final against Australia, was in the eye of the storm, with her membership in the club suspended after her father was found involved in hosting religious gatherings at the venue over the course of 18 months. Post India’s historic World Cup win, Jemimah has spilt the beans on the issue for the first time.

Jemimah spills the beans on Khar Gymkhana row

Speaking to India Today, Jemimah said that the incident had affected her family very deeply, adding that she was deeply hurt especially after her family was dragged into it. She claimed that everything that she and her family did was according to the rules.

“Sir, 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. Everything we did at that time was according to the rules and regulations — and we had proof of that. But the allegations made against me and my family really affected us deeply because we had done nothing wrong,” Jemimah said.

One of the oldest Mumbai clubs, Khar Gymkhana, revoked the star cricketer’s membership following allegations that her father, Ivan Rodrigues, was using the club for religious conversions. The club stated that Ivan used Jemimah’s membership to organise 35 events in the last 18 months that targetted ‘vulnerable’ people.

“The honorary three-year membership given to Ms. Jemimah Rodrigues was revoked pursuant to a resolution passed by the members who attended the general meeting held on October 20, 2024,” Khar Gymkhana President Vivek Devnani told The Indian Express.

Jemimah recalled that the incident had taken place right after the World Cup in Dubai. She said that while she already was feeling low because of not performing well in the event, the news about her and her family along with the messages that she had received had destroyed her.

“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 started seeing news, messages, and people 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 started crying. I didn’t know what to do. It felt like one blow after another — first my performance, and then false allegations about my family,” Jemimah said.