South Africa cricket team head coach Shukri Conrad has broken his silence on his recent "grovel" remark for the Indian team. The controversial comment from Conrad was made last month during a two-match Test series between the sides in which the Proteas registered a clean sweep. With South Africa right on top at the end of play on Day 4 of the second Test, Conrad stirred a row by saying his team wanted to make India "grovel". He said at the press conference, "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."
The remark from the South Africa head coach faced massive criticism. After the side's ODI series loss to India on Saturday, he has now opened up on it. While stating that his intentions were not wrong, Conrad accepted that he could have chosen a better word.
"On reflection, it was never my intention to cause some malice. I could have chosen a better word. My only thinking was about India spending more time on the field. One has to be careful about choosing the word. But there was no malice intended. Being humble is the cornerstone of the South African Test team," said Conrad at the end of the series-deiciding third ODI in Visakhapatnam.
While the word grovel means "to creep with the face to the ground", it carries baggage of racial undertones and has historical significance linked to former England captain Tony Greig.
In 1976, England played a home Test series against West Indies after the Windies had suffered a 5-1 loss in Australia. Ahead of the series, Greig told BBC that he wanted to make them "grovel". The remark angered West Indies players and fans, with many accusing him of racism. West Indies captain Clive Lloyd even said that West Indians everywhere felt insulted by the comment.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/g3n82Wc
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