Conrad must come clean on grovelgate

Best Shukri Conrad resolves the controversy he created last week by saying he wanted to make India's players grovel. That should happen not least to end the unfairness of Temba Bavuma being asked about the matter.

It's come up both times Bavuma has faced the press in the past seven days, and is likely to be raised again, and grow in prominence, until Conrad addresses the issue.

Last Tuesday, Conrad explained why South Africa had batted on until the ninth over of the third session of the fourth day of the Guwahati Test - taking their lead to a towering 548 - by saying, in part, "We wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase."

The next day, Bavuma was asked his fair share of questions about engineering his team's 408-run win - India's heaviest home defeat. But he was also asked whether he would "endorse" what Conrad had said.

"The comment or remark made by the coach came to me this morning," Bavuma said. "My mind has obviously been focused on the game and making sure that we were in a position from which we could win.

"I haven't had the opportunity to chat to the coach, but Shukri is close to 60 years old. He's got a lot of experience behind him. I think he will, at some point, have an opportunity to speak to those comments.

"From the team's perspective, we understand the magnitude of the series. We understand the intensity of the series. And as we have seen in the series, there have been times when certain guys have crossed the line.

"I'm not saying that the coach has crossed the line, but those are things that happen within the game. But I think he'll have an opportunity to speak more to that."

Bavuma didn't elaborate about who "crossed the line" and when, but India's players referenced his height in disparaging terms when discussing whether to refer an unsuccessful lbw appeal for his wicket during the first Test at Eden Gardens.

On Tuesday, in his presser ahead of the second ODI in Raipur, Bavuma was asked whether "chatter regarding what the coach has spoken about" or "something related to you" was "distracting" for his team.

"No, I don't think it's distracting," Bavuma said, prompting the reporter to try again by asking whether he wanted to "clarify something on that".

Bavuma declined the offer: "It's not for me to clarify anything."

At which point South Africa's media manager shut down the discussion with a curt, "Next question!"

The g-word has been a taboo in cricket since May 1976, when Tony Greig said something similar about West Indies' players before a Test series in England that year. For a white South African born and raised in the apartheid state to use a term closely associated with slavery and racism about black people was too much.

The West Indians were rightly enraged, and channeled their feelings onto the field - they won the five-match rubber 3-0. The aggression in their bowling spiked whenever Greig came to the crease. He scored 116 and 76 not out in the fourth Test at Headingley - where the visitors won by 55 runs regardless - but reached 20 only once in his other seven innings in the series.

It is wrong for anyone besides Conrad to be asked to explain himself, and especially wrong in this example that a black man should be made to do so. That jarring irony would seem lost on the reporters who have put Bavuma on the spot, but they could argue that they didn't have a choice considering Conrad has yet to front up.

Sadly, this isn't unfamiliar territory for Bavuma. In October 2021 it was left to him to answer for Quinton de Kock's refusal to play in a T20 World Cup match against West Indies in Dubai. De Kock made himself unavailable in the wake of CSA's board instructing the players to take a knee before the game in support of Black Lives Matter. South Africa won by eight wickets without De Kock, who returned to the XI and took a knee for the rest of the tournament.

Sunil Gavaskar has offered Conrad valuable advice for how to repair the damage, as Cricbuzz reported on Monday: "I don't think an apology is necessary; I personally don't believe in apologies. But acknowledging it and making up for it would be accepted by everyone.

"These things happen. In the heat of the moment, you can get carried away and say something that goes a bit over the top.

"Given the strong connection between Indian and South African cricket over the last 30 years, I think he can simply clarify that he got a bit carried away."

Gavaskar is correct in that the controversy is eminently resolvable. But only Conrad can resolve it. Issuing a statement could be useful for getting Conrad's ducks in a considered row without him having to think on his feet while seated behind the microphones.

Even if a statement does arrive before he appears, he is sure to be asked about the issue at his next press conference. A skilled communicator and an intelligent, warm figure, Conrad is more than capable of talking himself out of this corner successfully.

Cricbuzz understands Conrad is likely to take questions after the third ODI in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. His press conferences are invariably worth attending, but this one will be unmissable.