South Africa coach Shukri Conrad drops verdict on India's T20I team after ‘grovel’ gate: ‘I can’t think of a better…'
Shukri Conrad gave India's T20I team flowers for being a ‘hell of a side’ and admitted they rank amongst the best in the format's history.
South African head coach Shukri Conrad has been amongst the headlines right through the Proteas’ tour of India this winter. During their Test series success, Conrad received plenty of criticism for his choice to use the word ‘grovel’ heading into the second match with a 1-0 lead, given the connotations surrounding that word in cricket. However, the coach was more than ready to hand out credit where it was due, even admitting that this India outfit are amongst the best T20 sides in history after their 3-1 series win was sealed in Ahmedabad.
Speaking at the press conference after India had comprehensively beaten the Proteas by 30 runs to clinch the series, Conrad was asked about where he holds this Indian team in his esteem.
Although Conrad sounded hesitant at first, he came around to the idea by claiming that it was difficult to think of too many teams on par with what India have to offer across their lineup.
Asked if he thought they were the best T20 team ever, Conrad said: “Ever’s a long time, but they’re certainly close to it. Hell of a side, you need to be on top of your game all the time. Look at the way they come in and play with the bat; they constantly put bowlers under pressure from ball one. Similarly with ball, they’ve got a few match-winners.”
India's dominant streak in T20I cricket extends
India haven’t lost a T20I series in over 2 years, including going unbeaten at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they were crowned world champions after a flawless campaign.
In that time, they have lost only 7 matches, as Suryakumar Yadav took over seamlessly from Rohit Sharma, and even a period of squad turnover couldn’t stop the talent of the team from shining through.
Although there are certain question marks over India’s combination and form heading into the next T20 World Cup, which the men in blue will co-host with Sri Lanka, they have firmly established themselves as the team to beat with such stellar performances.
“To answer your question, I can’t think of a better side to be brutally honest, so they must rank right up there,” admitted Conrad in conclusion to the question, giving his flowers to the Indian team for what they have managed to achieve – but also very clearly putting a target on their back heading into February’s World Cup, where the 2024 runners-up will have intentions of being amongst the teams to end India’s rein holding that status.