South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad (AFP Photo) NEW DELHI: South Africa coach Shukri Conrad on Saturday acknowledged that the use of the word “grovel” overshadowed his team’s historic Test victory over India, though he reiterated that there was no “malice” behind it. Conrad made the remark after the fourth day of the second Test in Guwahati, when South Africa dominated, but the term – carrying racial overtones in cricket history – drew strong reactions.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!“I think on reflection it was never my intention to cause any malice or not be humble about anything. How could I have chosen a better word on reflection? Yeah, I could have been smarter,” Conrad said after the third ODI.
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“It (the word) left it open for people to put their own context on it, where the only context I ever intended it to be was for India to spend a lot of time and make it really difficult for them,” he added.Conrad said he will now pay more attention to the language used in public spaces.“I’ll be careful what word I use here now because there would be context attached to it as well. It’s a shame really. Maybe what it did was spice up the ODI series, especially when they won, that the T20 series became even bigger.”He admitted the controversy had distracted from South Africa’s first Test series victory over India in 25 years.“Unfortunately, with all the noise the word has made, I don’t think it’s a very good English word, but like I said, it leaves it open to too many interpretations.”“What it did was take the shine off what was a really special win for our Test team. It’s unfortunate, but like I said, it certainly wasn’t intentional.”Conrad added that humility remains central to the team’s culture.“Being humble is a cornerstone of our testing team and all of our teams.”“People shouldn’t even know who the coach is. It should be about the players. That’s unfortunate and I’d like to think it’s put to bed now,” he said.“We missed a special chance”Conrad also expressed regret over South Africa’s failure to secure another series win over India at home after claiming a Test win.“Yes, we had a chance to do something really special,” he said.“I think the last time India lost both a Test and an ODI series was in the 1990s. We missed that opportunity. But look, they are world-class players.”“When Rohit (Sharma) is in this type of form, you can’t afford to give up on your game. But like I said, part of it is building up to 2027, the World Cup in South Africa. I’d like to think a few things are starting to fall into place with that. You’ve got a lot of experience built into you,” he noted.“A Chance to Learn from RoKo”Virat Kohli finished the ODI competition as player of the series with two centuries and a fifty, while Rohit Sharma also contributed two half-centuries. Conrad said watching them was a learning experience for his young team.“Therein lies the lesson for us, for our young batsmen, to see what the best in the world do, Virat and Rohit, how they go about their business. And I’d like to think we take that learning with us and then grow from there, especially our younger batsmen,” he said.Conrad admitted that South Africa fell short with the bat in the ODI final.“I’d like to think we were a bit short with the bat. We started really well with the ball but because we didn’t put up a big enough score, the Indian opening batsmen didn’t have to take chances and put us under pressure.”“But I think we let ourselves down with the bat. We needed to send something much more competitive to put India under pressure. But those are the margins when two evenly matched teams are up against each other and (and) when one team is a bit off,” he said.Finally, Conrad and the team manager confirmed that Tony de Zorzi will miss the upcoming T20I series after suffering a hamstring injury during the second ODI in Raipur.“He was out earlier today so he was out of the T20 series as well. Yeah, it’s really tough. Of course we were, I guess I should use the term paralyzed. But Tony’s injury crippled us,” they said.
