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South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma firmly stated that the "grovel" comment made by head coach Shukri Conrad towards Team India during the Test series didn't prove to be a distraction for the Proteas. This comes after Conrad had made a controversial remark towards the Men in Blue following the conclusion of the fourth day of the second Test.
"And then, obviously, we wanted the Indians 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 'Come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening.' So, so far so good, but we also know that they're not just going to roll over, we're going to have to be at our very best in the morning," Conrad had said.
Bavuma remarked that the team has moved on from the comment made by Conrad and added that it isn't for him to clarify about it to anyone.
“No, I don’t think it is distracting (and) no it isn’t for me to clarify," Bavuma said in the pre-match press-conference.
Bavuma's verdict on SA's defeat in 1st ODI
The Proteas captain further went on to share his views on their 17-run defeat in the first ODI against India and opined that both the teams batted incredibly well. He added that they weren't far away from achieving the 350-run target and lost by a very small margin. The likes of Matthew Breetzke, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch all scored half-centuries, but eventually the visitors got bundled out for 332.
“We were 15 runs (17) short of them. The gap between the batting performances was not a big one. India played well; their two stalwarts stood up, but we weren’t too far off," Bavuma stated.
2nd ODI to be held in Raipur
Meanwhile, India will have a chance to seal the three-match ODI series against South Africa in the upcoming game that will be played in Raipur on December 3. The Men in Blue have previously played just one one-day match at the venue and they did so in 2023. They came out victorious in that game against New Zealand by an 8-wicket margin.
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