Conrad relishing India challenge, hopes South Africa can ‘expose’ hosts under pressure

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad says his side are ready to embrace the intensity of their Super Eight clash against India national cricket team, describing it as “the biggest match of the competition thus far.”

In his first white-ball tournament in charge, Conrad acknowledged the nerves of navigating the group stage but said the mood in the camp has shifted to excitement ahead of the high-stakes encounter in Ahmedabad.

“The first half of the group stages was the anxious bit for me. This is now the excitement,” Conrad said. “Tournament cricket almost has three parts to it. You’ve got to find a way of getting out of that group stage. We’ve done that. Now we’ve got India first up and then West Indies. That excites me.”

South Africa will wrap up their Super Eight campaign against Zimbabwe national cricket team, but the immediate focus is firmly on India, with a packed crowd expected and conditions likely to favour spin on a slower black-soil surface.

While India enter the contest as one of the tournament favourites, Conrad suggested that the hosts may be feeling the weight of expectation just as heavily as his side.

“Pressure is a big thing but it’s pressure both for us and them,” he said. “We all talk about the pressure of playing against the top side, but we’re not quite aware of what the pressures they are under.”

Conrad appeared to allude to the scrutiny on India opener Abhishek Sharma, who is yet to score in the tournament and has struggled against offspin. South Africa’s preparations reflected that potential matchup, with captain Aiden Markram and part-time offspinner Tristan Stubbs putting in extended spells in the nets.

Still, Conrad cautioned against overemphasising tactical matchups. “The match-ups can be overstated. I’m not a big fan of it,” he said, noting that good batting surfaces can neutralise such advantages unless there is significant assistance for spin.

Despite relatively modest scoring across the group stage — with few totals crossing 200 and none approaching the widely predicted 300-mark — Conrad believes surfaces have been better than during South Africa’s tour of India last year. He attributed the lower scores to the heightened stakes of global tournaments.

“The pressure of the World Cup,” he said. “In bilaterals, guys come in and play with a lot more freedom, but World Cups bring a decidedly different type of pressure.”

India, he added, are under immense scrutiny from supporters and media alike as they chase another title. “There’s so much scrutiny, especially a side like India. They’re going to be under a lot of pressure to make the semi-finals and obviously go on and make the finals as well. Hopefully we can expose them and make them vulnerable under that pressure.”

However, Conrad is well aware of the threat posed by India’s star-studded line-up, led by pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. With power-hitters such as Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya capable of shifting momentum in a matter of overs, South Africa are bracing for an aggressive start.

“They love hitting sixes. They like putting you under pressure from the first ball,” Conrad said. “If we can strike a few early blows with the ball and withstand an early onslaught with the bat, that will go a long way to giving us the right result.”

South Africa’s recent all-format tour of India, where they lost the T20I series 3-1, has also served as valuable preparation. Conrad believes the experience of playing in front of large, partisan crowds has hardened his team for the challenge ahead.

“That tour gave us a really good insight as to what we could be up against — the hostility, the fervour,” he said. “Sunday is just one of the few matches we have to win to get through, and we’re as well prepared as we can be.”