Guwahati, Nov 26: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Wednesday downplayed Shukri Conrad’s controversial remarks that he wanted India to “really grovel”, through a prosaic reasoning that the head coach “will have a look at his comments”.
Former players, including legends Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn, have expressed disappointment at Conrad’s usage of the word “grovel”, which carries a historical context, to describe Proteas’ dominance in the Test series.
“Yeah, look, I mean, the comments or the remark made by the coach came to me this morning. My mind has obviously been focused on the game and making sure that we’re in this position where we’ve won. I haven’t had the opportunity, proper opportunity, to chat to the coach,” Bavuma said, trying his best to diffuse the situation and suggesting that Conrad is an old man, who should be allowed to reflect on his comment. “But look, Shukri is close to 60 years old. He’s got a wealth of experience behind him. He’s got a lot of years. And I think he will, at some point, have an opportunity to speak to those comments. I think from a team’s perspective, look, we understand the magnitude of the series. We understand the intensity of the series.”
For the uninitiated, the word ‘grovel’ carries a cricketing context. In 1976, when the West Indies arrived in England for a Test series as overwhelming favourites, then English captain Tony Greig during a pre-series interview said, “… I intend to make them (West Indies) grovel.” West Indies thrashed England 5-0 in the series and made Greig eat humble pie. (PTI)
