New Delhi [India], December 24 : Having whitewashed India in the Test series, South African skipper Temba Bavuma opened up on his thoughts about the "grovel" remark from head coach Shukri Conrad, saying that the first time hearing them did have an "unsavoury taste" but also reminded him about how much the Test series meant to the newly crowned ICC World Test Champions.
WTC Champions South Africa secured 2-0 whitewash and their first series win in India since the 1999/00 season. This was India's second whitewash Test series loss in just two years after a shocking 0-3 loss to New Zealand.
While the win marked one of the finest moments in Proteas cricket history, it did not come without some controversy, as Shukri Conrad's remarks "grovel" remarks during Guwahati Test came under scrutiny.
With South Africa delaying its declaration in the Test despite being on a solid footing, Conrad had said that the team wanted to make the Indian team "really grovel" and "completely bat them out of the game".
The team lived up to this message as a unit, giving India their biggest Test loss by 408 runs, Conrad's remarks did not go well with several fans and people in the cricketing fraternity.
The term "grovel" was first used by England's Tony Greig during the West Indies team's 1976 tour of England, when he said his team intended to "make WI grovel". At that time, the remark was perceived to be racist.
Conrad's remark was criticised by several Indian and South African players, including Sunil Gavaskar and Dale Steyn as the two cricketing nations have epitomised the word "friendship" through appreciation for each other's game. Indian IPL team owners' are also involved in South Africa's domestic T20 franchise league, SA20.
Speaking on this remark in his ESPNCricinfo column, Bavuma admitted he was under media pressure to offer some clarification on the remark and admitted that he agrees with his coach's later apology that "he could have chosen a better word".
"Shukri also took some heat for his 'grovel' remark. I was put under pressure by the media on that side, asking me to clarify the comments that were made. I thought Shukri was the man best positioned to give context to it all," said Bavuma.
"The first time I heard about it, it had that unsavoury taste to it, but I think it just reminded me how tough and competitive the Test series was and what it meant to certain individuals within the group. Shukri spoke after the ODI series and put that issue to bed. In hindsight, he said he could have chosen a better word and I agree with him," he added.
Speaking after his side's ODI series loss to India, Conrad apologised for his remarks and said it was "never his intention to cause any malice".
"On reflection, it was never my intention to cause any malice or not be humble about anything. I could have chosen a better word because it left it open for people to put their own context to it. The only context I ever intended it to be was that we wanted India to spend a lot of time in the field and make it really tough for them. I have got to be careful what word I use here now because context could be attached to that as well," "Conrad said, according to ESPNCricinfo
"It is really a pity. Maybe what it did do was spice up the ODI series, and especially with India 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 is a perfectly good English word, but I 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 is unfortunate, but there was definitely no malice intended," he added.
Also, Conrad admitted that being humble is the "cornerstone" for all of the South African teams.
"It is unfortunate that the noise and the talk became around the coach. People should not really even know who the coach is. It should be about the players. That is the unfortunate bit, and I would like to think that it is going to be put to bed now," he concluded.
In the series, Bavuma had decent success as a batter, scoring 102 runs in four innings at an average of 34.00, with his best score of 55*, with his half-century being the point of difference during the Kolkata Test, where India failed to chase 124 runs set by Proteas, with their skipper Shubman Gill not taking part in the match and later in the second Test as well, due to a neck injury sustained just minutes after a short batting stint in Kolkata.
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