South Africa’s tour of India has primarily been a battle between the bat and the ball, with discussions and debates largely surrounding the cricketing contest on the field, barring one or two occasions. South Africa coach Shukri Conrad triggered a controversy during a Guwahati Test press conference when he said that he wanted the Indian team to ‘grovel’. Now, a video circulating on social media has claimed that Indian talisman Virat Kohli snubbed a handshake with Conrad after the conclusion of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
The video starts just as Kohli is about to reach Conrad, but no attempt to extend a hand to the South Africa coach could be seen from the India star. Kohli, however, proceeded to shake hands with the next two South Africans in the queue before the clip ended. The length of the video was insufficient to ascertain if Kohli had already shaken hands with Conrad before the first moment shown in the clip.
We missed this,Virat Kohli ignored South Africa’s head coach after India won
He must have listened to the PC pic.twitter.com/5VnVHlmLyY
— Dive (@crickohlic) December 2, 2025
What is the ‘Grovel’ Controversy Around Shukri Conrad?
The controversy erupted after Conrad, following his team’s dominant performance against India in the Guwahati Test, stated they intentionally prolonged their batting to make the Indian players “really grovel.”
This comment caused widespread backlash because the word ‘grovel’ carries immense, negative racial and historical baggage in cricket, famously being used in 1976 by then-England captain Tony Greig (a white South African) to describe his intent to humiliate the West Indies team.
Conrad’s exact remarks after the fourth day’s play in the Guwahati Test were: “We obviously looked at how best we were going to use the new ball, because in the morning we still wanted a newish, hardish ball. What we felt is that when the shadows come across the wicket in the evening, there’s something in it for the quick bowlers, so we didn’t want to declare too early and not be able to use that. And then, obviously, we wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field, we wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out of the game, and then say to them, ‘Come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening.’ So, so far so good, but we also know that they’re not just going to roll over; we’re going to have to be at our very best in the morning.”
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