South Africa are on the cusp of winning Test series 2-0 in India.
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad's comment about making India 'grovel' during the Guwahati Test has drawn sharp reactions from former Indian cricketers Anil Kumble, Cheteshwar Pujara and Aakash Chopra, who were left disappointed by both the phrasing and the timing of the comment.
Conrad fired an open dig at the Indian team while defending his side’s late declaration call on Day 4 of the second Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
India are facing a monumental task heading into the fifth day to avoid another whitewash at home. Trailing 0-1 in the two-match series, the hosts ended the penultimate day on 27/2, needing 522 more runs for victory with just eight wickets in hand.
"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 said in the post-day presser when asked why the Proteas had opted to bat for so long rather than declaring.
Notably, the word “grovel” was used by former England skipper Tony Grieg before a Test series against the West Indies in 1976. Grieg had said that he wanted to make the West Indies grovel, which riled up the Caribbean team so much that they ended up thrashing England in their den by 3-0 in a five-match series.
Kumble, speaking on Cricket Live, stressed that such language has no place in modern cricket, especially from a team on the verge of creating history.
“There’s history attached to this. Fifty years ago, an England captain used the same phrase against the great West Indies side, and we all know what followed,” Kumble said. “South Africa have most likely won the series, but when you’re on top, your choice of words matters. Humility is most important at such times. I certainly didn’t expect this—from the coach or the support staff. When you’re winning, the first thing is to stay humble, not say something like this at a press conference.”
Pujara echoed similar sentiment, acknowledging that it will hurt the home team and they need to respond through performance.
“It does fire up the team, but it will hurt as well. I don’t think that statement will go down well in the dressing room,” Pujara said. “But the best way to answer it is to fight it out—bat three sessions, build partnerships. We’re in this position because we haven’t played good cricket, and the response has to come with the bat, not through words.”
On the other hand, Chopra took to X and urged the Indian dressing room to fully grasp the significance of the term.
“‘We wanted to make India grovel’ — the South African coach said this after Day 4,” Chopra posted. “I hope everyone in the Indian dressing room understands what it means and gets a history lesson on when it was last used, and what happened afterwards.”
India’s misery continued in the morning session on Day 5, losing nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel and stand-in skipper Rishabh Pant to find themselves reeling at 58/5.
South Africa need to take five more wickets in the remaining day’s play to walk away with a historic 2-0 series win.