After ‘grovel’ controversy, Shukri Conrad makes surprising comment on hospice chaos

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad hit the headlines for his audacious ‘growl’ comment on India ahead of the second innings of the second Test in Guwahati. Now he is once again in the headlines before the Dharamshala T20 match.

Shukri Conrad had commented that he wanted the Indian batsmen to ‘groan’ after chasing a big target in the final innings of the Guwahati Test. India struggled to chase this huge target and lost by a huge margin of 400+ runs.

South African coach Shukri Conrad subsequently faced heavy criticism for his comments and publicly apologized for the move. After the Test series, South Africa also lost the ODI series and now has leveled the T20 series as well.

The India vs South Africa T20I series begins on December 9 in Cuttack. The teams then moved north from the Far East of India and played the second game at the new PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh in completely different climatic conditions.

The third match is to be played in Dharamshala, which is said to be one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world. Nestled amidst the mountains, the South African players are having a great time in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Shukri Conrad has ridiculously claimed he had to cancel a team meeting because some Proteas players were hiking in the mountains.

“I had to cancel a meeting because some of our people are on a trek somewhere in the mountains,” Shukri Conrad said ahead of the third T20 match in Dharamsala.

India or South Africa – who will take the lead in Dharamshala?

India and South Africa had leveled the series as the WTC defending champions won the Test series after a span of two decades in the Indian subcontinent, and on the other hand, the Men in Blue won the ODI leg of the series by a 2-1 margin.

Coming off the back of the most impressive format for the Men in Blue, the T20 World Cup champions won the first match in Cuttack by a stunning margin. They defeated the Proteas by a huge margin of 101 runs before advancing to New Chandigarh.

The new stadium, one of the greatest tracks for batting in the subcontinent, saw Proteas veteran Quinton de Kock recall his years and score 90 with his bat to guide South Africa to a huge target.

If the series is tied at 1-1, either of the two teams can take the lead in the 5-match series by winning the Dharamshala match. The Dharamshala track is one of the highest scoring pitches and the toss will play a major role at this venue.

Will India drop Shubman Gill for the third T20I against South Africa?

India is struggling with the poor form of vice-captain Shubman Gill. He replaced Sanju Samson in the playing eleven, but failed to make any significant impact scoring runs at an average of 20.

India will eventually have to move on from the unsuccessful vice-captain, as the poor form of both Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav has worried Indian fans and hampered their hopes of defending their title at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Sanju Samson, who has been left out of the last 5 consecutive matches, may finally be called up for the 3rd T20I and tested at the top of the batting order.

Also read: PCB set to copy BCCI by starting WPL-style women’s league