Shukri Conrad responds to ‘grovel’ comment against India: ‘Was never my intention to not be humble about anything’

"I could have been smarter," reflected Conrad

Updated: December 7, 2025 11:31 AM IST

2 min read

South African Head Coach Shukri Conrad. (FILE photo)

It was during the second Test between India and South Africa that the latter, on Day 4, kept India on the field and frustrated them. While many expected the declaration would come at various points of that day, it did not happen. South Africa took their time and eventually said it had enough late in the evening session. India lost both their openers in the brief passage of play, apart from the appalling day India had. What caught the attention was the comments made by Head Coach Shukri Conrad when he said, “We wanted them (India) to really grovel, to steal a phrase,” Conrad said, which did spark a bit of controversy. However, after the defeat in the third ODI later in the press conference Conrad clarified that he did not have any malicious intention in making those remarks.

“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,” Conrad said. It (the word) left it open to people putting their own context to it, where the only context I ever intended it to be was for India to spend a lot of time and make it really tough for them,” he added.

<div class="infographic"><style>.infographic{font-family:"Roboto",sans-serif;margin-bottom:25px;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;max-width:640px;min-width:640px;background:#fff;}.infographic__header{background:linear-gradient(135deg,#feca57 0%,#f4a130 100%);padding:20px;text-align:center;}.infographic__title{font-size:18px;font-weight:700;color:#1a1a1a;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;margin:0;}.infographic__subtitle{font-size:13px;color:#1a1a1a;opacity:0.85;line-height:1.4;margin-top:8px;}.infographic__content{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(2,1fr);gap:0;}.infographic__controversy{background:#fff5f5;padding:25px 20px;text-align:center;border-left:4px solid #ff6b6b;}.infographic__controversy-label{font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#ff6b6b;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:10px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;}.infographic__controversy-text{font-size:15px;font-weight:700;color:#1a1a1a;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;font-style:italic;}.infographic__clarification{background:#f0f9ff;padding:25px 20px;text-align:center;border-left:4px solid #45b7d1;}.infographic__clarification-label{font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#45b7d1;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:10px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;}.infographic__clarification-text{font-size:15px;font-weight:700;color:#1a1a1a;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;font-style:italic;}.infographic__apology{background:linear-gradient(135deg,#96ceb4 0%,#7ab89c 100%);padding:25px 20px;text-align:center;grid-column:1/-1;color:#1a1a1a;}.infographic__apology-title{font-size:15px;font-weight:700;opacity:1;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:12px;}.infographic__apology-quote{font-size:13px;opacity:1;line-height:1.5;font-style:italic;margin-bottom:10px;}.infographic__apology-attribution{font-size:13px;font-weight:600;opacity:0.9;line-height:1.4;}.infographic__branding{background:#3C4557;color:#fff;padding:12px 20px;text-align:center;font-size:13px;opacity:1;}@media (max-width:480px){.infographic{min-width:auto;max-width:480px;}.infographic__header{padding:15px;}.infographic__title{font-size:16px;}.infographic__subtitle{font-size:12px;margin-top:6px;}.infographic__controversy{padding:20px 15px;}.infographic__controversy-label{font-size:12px;margin-bottom:8px;}.infographic__controversy-text{font-size:14px;}.infographic__clarification{padding:20px 15px;}.infographic__clarification-label{font-size:12px;margin-bottom:8px;}.infographic__clarification-text{font-size:14px;}.infographic__apology{padding:20px 15px;}.infographic__apology-title{font-size:14px;margin-bottom:10px;}.infographic__apology-quote{font-size:12px;margin-bottom:8px;}.infographic__apology-attribution{font-size:12px;}}</style><div class="infographic__header"><div class="infographic__title">Shukri Conrad's "Grovel" Controversy</div><div class="infographic__subtitle">SA coach clarifies remarks after backlash</div></div><div class="infographic__content"><div class="infographic__controversy"><div class="infographic__controversy-label">What He Said</div><div class="infographic__controversy-text">"We wanted them to really grovel"</div></div><div class="infographic__clarification"><div class="infographic__clarification-label">What He Meant</div><div class="infographic__clarification-text">"Make it really tough for them"</div></div><div class="infographic__apology"><div class="infographic__apology-title">Conrad's Post-Match Clarification</div><div class="infographic__apology-quote">"It was never my intention to cause any malice. I could have chosen a better word. The word left it open to too many interpretations."</div><div class="infographic__apology-attribution">— Shukri Conrad, SA Head Coach</div></div></div><div class="infographic__branding"><span class="infographic__branding-text">Indian Express InfoGenIE</span></div></div>

“I’m going to be careful what word I use here now, because context would be attached to that as well. It’s really a pity. Maybe what it did do was to spice up the ODI series, especially with them winning that now, the T20 series becomes even more so.”

“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.”

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India cricket team South Africa cricket