South Africa cricket team head coach Shukri Conrad regretted using the ‘gorvel’ remark against Team India following the 1-2 defeat at the hands of the hosts in the ODI series. The coach’s remarks after the IND vs SA 2nd Test had invited criticism from experts, which he was forced to defend after the series loss to India in the 50-over format. Following the IND vs SA 3rd ODI, Conrad admitted that making the remark was futile while also revealing what his team had learnt at the hands of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during the series.
‘Never my intention’
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Conrad said that he could have been smarter over making the ‘grovel’ remark. The comment carried some racial undertones, which were condemned and amplified by many former cricketers. The South Africa head coach clarified that it was never his intention to cause any malice. He said that his only intention behind the statement was to intend that India had to toil hard in the Tests to get a win or a draw.
“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. The unfortunate thing is, with all the noise that word caused, I don’t think it’s a perfectly good English word, but like I said, it just left it open to too many interpretations. What it did was take away the gloss of what was a really special win for our Test team. It’s unfortunate, but like I said, there was definitely no malice intended,” Conrad said.
The Ro-Ko teachings
Dubbing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as the world’s best players, Conrad stated that South Africa’s oung players ought to learn from the veteran duo. Virat finished with two centuries and a fifty to his name in the ODI series and was named the Player of the Series. Meanwhile, Sharma registered scores of 57, 14 and 75 across the three innings. The Ro-Ko duo provided a masterclass to the SA batters in the three-match series, a lesson for decades to come.
“Therein lies the learnings for us, for our young batters to see what the world’s best does, i.e. Virat and Rohit, how they go about their business. And I’d like to think that we will take that learning with us and then grow from there, especially our younger batters,” he said.
