On Day 4 of the ongoing second Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, South Africa chose not to declare when the second session came to a close. While it seemed that South Africa wanted Tristan Stubbs to go for his century despite having enough on the board to rule out India's comeback, South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad said that they wanted to make the home team "grovel". Conrad’s comments did not sit well with former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel as he termed Conrad’s comments as “disrespectful”.
Almost half a century ago, former England captain Tony Greig used the same word to ignite a fire in Babylon, leading to West Indies bowlers throwing a barrage of bouncers, leading their side to a 3-0 Test series win.
“Maybe the South African coach does not know the weightage of the word. But I don’t think so. There was a smirk on his face when he said it. There is no doubt that it was disrespectful. As the Indian team all you do is tell them that ‘You’ve come to this situation by playing well. Well done to you. But there was no need to use such words’. I think through the day we will see an apology from Conrad. I don’t think such things are needed on the cricketing field. You can fight, play hard, but such things are not needed,” Patel said on the Star Sports broadcast before the start of Day 5’s play on November 26.
Here’s what Conrad said in post-Day 4 press conference
"We obviously looked at how best we were going to use the new ball, because in the morning we still wanted a newish, hardish ball. What we felt is that when the shadows come across the wicket in the evening, there's something in it for the quick bowlers, so we didn't want to declare too early and not be able to use that,” Conrad said.
"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."
South Africa have set a target of 509 for India. The only option India have to bat the whole day for a draw.