Indian opener Rohit Sharma ruthlessly slammed South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad for his controversial “growl” comment made during the recent Test series after playing a key role in the Men in Blue’s thrilling 17-run win in the first ODI in Ranchi.
Last month, Shukri Conrad had created a major controversy with his comments during the second and final Test against India in Guwahati.
Shukri Conrad faces embarrassment over “grovel” controversy
During a press conference after the fourth day, Conrad explained that South Africa’s strategy was to “force the Indians to spend as much time as possible in the field, and we wanted them to really grind,” as he explained his plan.
Also read: Virat Kohli overtakes Shubman Gill in ICC ODI rankings, aims to snatch No. 1 spot from Rohit Sharma
On the fifth day, the Proteas defeated India by 408 runs in Guwahati to win the Test series 2–0. However, the South African head coach’s choice of words sparked immediate reaction. The term “grovel” has a history in cricket, having been used by former England captain Tony Greig in a racially sensitive context against the West Indies in 1976.
Indian fans, players and cricket experts were quick to react, calling Conrad’s statement highly inappropriate. Even legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar criticized the Proteas coach for his disrespectful and unnecessary remarks which affected his team’s on-field performance.
Rohit Sharma deliberately ignored Shukri Conrad in post-match congratulations
A week after the controversy, the Men in Blue exacted revenge as they defeated them by 17 runs in the first ODI, but the on-field action in Ranchi revealed pure drama. The returning Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma gave Conrad a taste of his own medicine.
When the Indian team climbed the stairs to greet the South African players, Kohli completely ignored Conrad. And now a latest video is going viral on social media in which it is shown that Rohit even ignored the head coach of South Africa.
Also read: Virat Kohli sent statement ignoring Shukri Conrad in Ranchi after ‘grovel’ comment
The former Indian captain did not even look at Conrad. As Conrad came into the queue, Rohit ignored the Proteas coach by keeping an eye on the stairs, but shook hands with the other players and greeted them with a smile. Rohit expressed his opposition to Conrad through his body language.
Rohit Sharma also ignored South Africa’s head coach after the first ODI
Belt treatment for him
pic.twitter.com/J52kgp39gQ-Cricket Crazy (@cricketmod) 3 December 2025
Rohit Sharma joins the club of scoring 9,000+ runs at home
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma achieved another feat in the second ODI against South Africa in Raipur despite a poor performance with the bat. The 38-year-old opening batsman scored 14 runs off 8 balls with the help of three fours at a strike rate of 175 before being dismissed by Nandre Berger.
Despite the low score, Rohit became the fourth Indian cricketer to score more than 9,000 international runs on home soil, joining the likes of legends Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli. However, in the first ODI, Rohit had scored 57 runs in 51 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Rohit started his ODI career in 2007 against Ireland. He has scored 11,441 runs in 278 matches and 270 innings at an average of 49.1 and strike rate of 92.80. He has also scored 33 centuries and 60 half-centuries in ODIs.
