Racist remark? SA coach says he wanted India to ‘grovel’

Guwahati: South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad wanted his men to make India “grovel” on the fourth day by setting them the mammoth 549-run target that the embattled hosts are currently chasing to save the second Test and an imminent series whitewash.

Conrad’s expression could well stir tensions in what has been a fairly amicable series, but he did mention that he was “stealing a phrase” from the infamous interview by late England skipper Tony Greig before the 1976 home series against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies which his team lost 0-3.

“We wanted India to spend as much time on their feet out in the field. We wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out the game and then say to them well come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening,” Conrad literally rubbed it in at the post-play press conference when asked why South Africa batted for nearly 80 overs when they had already acquired a sizeable lead.

To “grovel” means to “lie or crawl abjectly on the ground with one’s face downwards”, something that Greig, who was of white South African heritage, had said in reference to the Caribbean players, their painful history of slavery and the apartheid in the Rainbow Nation.

Whether Cricket South Africa has a quiet word with their coloured coach making an objectionable reference at an opposition national team, that has its own history of facing racism, is not yet known.

Conrad was asked to explain why they delayed the declaration and whether it could affect the final outcome of the match with India getting away with a draw.

“There were a few factors. We obviously were looking at how best we are going to use the new ball, so that in the morning we still get a newish, hard ball,” Conrad said.

He then gave an interesting insight into his tactical nous.

“We felt that when the shadows come across the pitch in the evening, there’s something in it for the quick bowlers. So we didn’t want to declare too early and not be able to use that (with hard ball). And then obviously we wanted India to spend as much time on their feet out in the field.”

India bat till No. 8 and Conrad knows that the hosts would try their best not to get skittled out. “So far so good but we also know they are just not going to roll over. We have to be at our very best tomorrow but those are the factors that we considered here.”