Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has claimed “there was definitely no malice intended” behind his infamous “grovel” comment after the Test series win over India last month.
Asked about the Proteas’ late declaration on day four of the second Test in Guwahati, Conrad said: “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 term “grovel” in a cricket context, of course, has long been tinged with racism after former England captain Tony Greig directed it at the all-black West Indies team in 1976.
But Conrad claimed that “it was never my intention to cause any malice or not be humble about anything.”
“I think on reflection, I could have chosen a better word on reflection because it 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,” Conrad said after his team slumped to a nine-wicket defeat in the third ODI to surrender the series 2-1 in Vizag on Saturday.
“I’ve got to be careful what word I use here now because context could be attached to that as well. It’s really a pity.
🚨 MATCH RESULT 🚨
India takes the win by 9 wickets, clinching the ODI series 2-1. 🏏
All eyes now turn to the five-match T20I series starting next Tuesday! 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/RYc10Usf1B
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 6, 2025
“Maybe what it did do was spice up the ODI series, and especially with him winning that now, the T20 series becomes even more so. The unfortunate thing is, with all the noise that that word caused, I still think it’s a perfectly good English word, but like I said, it just left it open to too many interpretations.”
The 56-year-old coach claimed his biggest regret was that the controversy shifted the focus away from the Proteas’ 2-0 clean sweep of the Test series, which was also the visitors’ first Test series win in India for 25 years.
“What it did was take away the gloss of what was a really special win for our Test team,” Conrad said.
“It’s unfortunate, but like I said, there was definitely no malice intended. Being humble is a cornerstone of our Test team and all our teams for that matter. It’s unfortunate that the noise and the talk became around the coach, who people shouldn’t really even know who the coach is.
“It should be about the players. But yeah, that’s the unfortunate bit, and I’d like to think that it’s going to be put to bed now.”
