Cricket South Africa must apologise for Shukri Conrad’s controversial comment — here’s why his remarks sparked major backlash.
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad’s remark that his team “wanted to make India grovel” after Day 4 of the second Test has rightly triggered outrage among cricket fans. Coming from a board and a cricketing culture long admired for dignity and moral leadership, the comment is unnecessary, demeaning, and out of step with what modern international sport should represent.
In plain English, “grovel” means to make someone submit in a humiliating way, to reduce them to begging or abject surrender rather than simply outplaying them in fair competition. In the context of the Guwahati Test, Conrad was referring to South Africa’s decision to bat India out of the game, stretching their second-innings lead to 549 and making the hosts toil long in the field on Day 4 so they would be mentally and physically broken before the final day.
It is not just about winning a Test match. The word choice clearly implied an intent to see India suffer and be humiliated, rather than merely beaten. This is why the phrase has hit a raw nerve in India and beyond.
Why is the remark so problematic?
Cricket is a tough, competitive sport where players and coaches often talk about “hurting” the opposition, “dominating” sessions and “breaking” partnerships, all of which are understood as metaphors for elite performance. But “make them grovel” crosses a line because it moves from the language of performance to the language of degradation, reducing opponents from professional rivals to targets of humiliation. Coming from the head coach of an international level team, the comment carries institutional weight, making it far more serious than a stray remark from a fired-up player.
Moreover, this is a bilateral series between two sides with a long, respectful history on and off the field. India have consistently backed South African cricket politically and financially. For a senior South African figure to speak about India in such terms disregards the history of solidarity and partnership.
From the post-apartheid “Rainbow Nation” narrative to the way South African captains and players have often spoken about respect and resilience, Cricket South Africa has long been seen as a symbol of moral courage and quiet steel, not cheap verbal shots.
When a coach from such a background talks about making an opponent “grovel,” it undermines that hard-earned image. It risks normalising a harsher, almost dehumanising rhetoric that younger players may internalise, at a time when world cricket is trying to clamp down on sledging, discriminatory language and disrespectful conduct on and off the field.
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 2nd Test, Day 4: India in deep doldrums at 27-2, chasing a mammoth 549
India’s collapse doesn’t justify the tone
The sporting context makes this even more sensitive. On the field, South Africa have completely outplayed India in the second Test. Piling up 489 runs in the first innings, then 260 runs for 5 declared, and leaving team India staring at an improbable 549-run mountain in the fourth-innings chase. India’s batting has crumbled twice in the match, with Marco Jansen’s 6 for 48 in the first innings exposing technical and temperamental flaws, and the top order again faltering to 27 for 2 by stumps on Day 4.
India have been “badly beaten” in almost every department in this Test, from new-ball discipline to lower-order resistance, and from fielding intensity to tactical clarity. In such a situation, the cricket is already speaking loud enough in South Africa’s favour. A dominant performance gives a team the perfect platform to talk about skill, planning and character; choosing instead to dwell on making the opposition “grovel” makes the victory look smaller, not bigger.
‘We wanted to make India grovel’ — South African coach after the end of Day-4.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 26, 2025
I hope everyone in the Indian dressing room has been made to understand what exactly it means and a little bit of history lesson on when it was last used by someone in Cricket. And what happened next…
Why CSA should apologise
For all these reasons, there is a strong argument that Cricket South Africa owes a formal apology. The phrasing used was not just overly aggressive – it crossed the line into language that demeans and belittles an opposing national side. Such a tone moves far beyond the competitive edge and directly contradicts the ICC’s emphasis on respect and the spirit of the game.
It also contradicts South Africa’s own values. A board that projects itself as progressive, inclusive and respectful cannot ignore or normalise a phrase that echoes a darker, more hierarchical view of opponents.
An official statement from CSA acknowledging that the statement was inappropriate, reiterating respect for India as a cricketing powerhouse, and clarifying that competitive fire will always stay within the bounds of dignity would go a long way in defusing the situation.
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 2nd Test, Day 3: Jansen’s 6-48 pushes India close to another home series loss
