Shukri will have a look at his comments: Bavuma

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Wednesday downplayed Shukri Conrad’s controversial remarks that he wanted India to “really grovel”, through a prosaic reasoning that the head coach “will have a look at his comments”.

Former players from both India and South Africa, including legends Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn, have expressed disappointment at Conrad’s usage of the word “grovel”, which carries a historical context, to describe Proteas’ dominance in the just-concluded Test series which they won 2-0.

“Yeah, look, I mean, the comments or the remark made by the coach came to me this morning. My mind has obviously been focused on the game and making sure that we’re in this position where we’ve won. I haven’t had the opportunity, proper opportunity, to chat to the coach,” Bavuma said, trying his best to diffuse the situation and suggesting that Conrad is an old man, who should be allowed to reflect on his comment.

“But look, Shukri is close to 60 years old. He’s got a wealth of experience behind him. He’s got a lot of years. And I think he will, at some point, have an opportunity to speak to those comments. I think from a team’s perspective, look, we understand the magnitude of the series. We understand the intensity of the series.”

Referring to the “bauna” (slang lingo for a short man) comment made by Jasprit Bumrah to describe the South Africa skipper’s height during the first Test in Kolkata, Bavuma added, “And I think, as we would have seen in the series, there have been times where certain guys have crossed the line. But those are things that happen within the game. And I’m not saying that the coach has crossed the line, but those are things that happen. But I think he’ll have an opportunity to speak more on that.”

For the uninitiated, the word ‘grovel’ carries a cricketing context.

In 1976, when the West Indies arrived in England for a Test series as overwhelming favourites, then English captain Tony Greig during a pre-series interview said, “I intend to make them (West Indies) grovel.”

West Indies thrashed England 5-0 in the series and made Greig eat humble pie. South Africa completed a 2-0 series sweep of India with a 408-run drubbing of the hosts in the second Test here, having entered the game after a 30-run victory in Kolkata.

Conrad made the comments after the end of fourth day’s play in the second Test with his team in a commanding position to win their first Test series in India in 25 years.

A 2-0 series win and that too in India is an “incredible” achievement, feels Bavuma, who termed it as a victory that would be right up there.

“I think what makes it sweeter is the fact that we’re on the other side of the result. We know how dark it can be. Coming here, I would have never thought 2-0 would be the result at the end of the series. But I think it’s an incredible achievement for the group of players.

“Again, we’ve gone on to etch ourselves in history and we are creating some memorable moments.”

Very impressed how Simon performed The 36-year-old Simon Harmer with 17 wickets turned out to be an unlikely hero of the series and Bavuma couldn’t stop waxing eloquent about the off-spinner, who literally set the panic in Indian ranks.

“I think Simon, obviously, he’s come in and heavily boasted our resources from a spin point of view. As a team, over the years, we’ve highly relied on Keshav Maharaj. Probably he wasn’t at his best in the series at his own admission.

“But I think the way Simon came in and he did what he had to do. Also supported by the other guys, Eden Mokrem, Mutasemi, getting that breakthrough for us. But yeah, I think, I mean, I’ve always said this, our bowling has always been a strength of ours.”

For Bavuma, the win is validation that South Africa are now an all-conditions champion Test team which can also win when their main bowler Kagiso Rabada isn’t present.

“And again, the way the guys have stepped up, even though we didn’t have our main bowler being Kagiso (Rabada), you know, it was incredible. So I think a lot more belief would have grown, not necessarily for me, but for everyone within our team to be able to be really successful and formidable in all types of conditions,” he concluded.

South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma (left) receiving trophy from Devajit Saikia, BCCI Secretary (right), at the post-match award ceremony of the first-ever Test match held in Guwahati.