South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad took a brutal dig at the Indian team while defending his late declaration call on Day 4 of the Guwahati Test.

The hosts are facing a monumental task heading into the fifth day to avoid another series whitewash at home. Trailing 0-1 in the two-match series, they ended the penultimate day on 27/2, needing 522 more runs for victory with just eight wickets in hand.

With their backs firmly against the wall, Rishabh Pant and his men can draw motivation to fight from Conrad’s words after stumps on the fourth day.

"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.

Conrad further explained why the tourists batted for almost 80 overs and kept on going despite the lead going beyond 500 in the second session.

"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 added.

He then shared 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),” the coach stated.

"And then obviously we wanted India to spend as much time on their feet out in the field," he further remarked.