Shukri Conrad says South Africa might need to act more ostentatiously for the sake of their own good. Following the series loss against Australia in the Top End, which was decided in the last over of the final T20I, the Proteas coach was concerned that the side might not be fully ‘showing off’ what they are capable of.
In several situations throughout the series, Australia were saved by something that might practically be the same approach. In the first T20I, the hosts were four down within the powerplay but managed to orchestrate a comeback from there. South Africa, meanwhile, have faced the last-over defeats twice in a month, the first one coming against New Zealand in the tri-series final.
“Sometimes we can be too humble. We don’t show off to the world enough what we’re capable of doing,” Conrad said.
“This has got nothing to do with the way Australia plays, but they have got a blueprint as to how they want to play. There are times when it looks absolutely brilliant and it’s box-office stuff. And there are times when you can have them in trouble, like we had them in the first couple of games. But they stay true to it. What does it mean for us? It’s easier on the batting front, guys like [[Tristan Stubbs] and Ricks [Ryan Rickelton] and Aiden [Markram] himself… there’s so much that they can do. But feel that they have maybe boxed themselves in a little bit too much.”
The three mentioned players were not able to notch up scores of any significance across the series, barring Rickelton’s 71-run knock in the first game. While Stubbs’ barren run wasn’t too much of a worry for the visitors, given his match-winning, unbeaten 47 against India was just a few innings ago, the same doesn’t apply to Markram. The last time he scored a half-century in the format was in 2022. Quite ironically, he has only been better in the other two formats since then, which is why Conrad believes his breakthrough might just be around the corner.
“I know it’s a different format, but in the World Test Championship final not so long ago, Aiden showed exactly what he is about,” Conrad said. “And I’m sure he is a couple of games away from unlocking that state of genius.”
Overall, Conrad seemed glad with how the side progressed against a team like Australia. South Africa were without many of their regular players, including David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, among others, which, the coach mentioned, meant they did well to deter the hosts, even with an unbalanced combination.
“It’s not always going to result in winning. But I just want us to show off a bit more. If we want to be brave, we have got to select attacks to beat a team like Australia and if I can nudge a batting unit into playing a certain way where we are a batter light and I concede we were a batter light, imagine what they can do when we have got a properly balanced side,” he said. “It’s all part of the slightly longer-term plan.”
