KARACHI: South Africa’s long-form captain Demba Bouma on Wednesday addressed the controversies surrounding India’s tour of two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.
The full-fledged tour began with a two-match series against the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) holders and two-time runners-up, and in the opening game, Indian players Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant were caught referring to Bumrah as a ‘dwarf’ on the stump mic.
Their on-field conversation, aimed at discussing whether India should challenge the not-out decision against Bauma’s LBW dismissal appeal, immediately caught the attention of cricket fans, who used inappropriate language on Bumrah.
Both sides remained tight-lipped over the incident until Bawma revealed in his column for an international cricket news website that Bumrah and Pant had approached him for an apology but had been kept “in the dark” about the reason.
“I know something happened with their language about me. At the end of the day, two senior players Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah came and apologized,” Bauma wrote.
“When the apology came, I was in the dark about what it was about, I didn’t hear it at the time and I had to check with our media manager about it.
“What happens on the field stays on the field, but you don’t forget what you said. You use it as fuel and motivation, but there’s no personal grudge.”
Following the conclusion of the final day of the second Test, South Africa had their fair share of controversies as their head coach Sukri Conrad was asked about their late announcement of setting India a target of 549 runs.
Explaining the decision, Conrad shared that they wanted India to be “really brutal” and eliminate them completely from the tournament.
“We wanted the Indians to spend a lot of time on their feet. We wanted them to really grind, hang in there, completely knock them out of the competition and then challenge them to survive this evening and the final day,” Conrad said.
The term “Croval” immediately sparked debate due to its strong historical association with Tony Craig’s infamous statement before the 1976 England-West Indies series, a comment widely condemned as racially insensitive.
Reflecting on their coach’s controversial statement, Demba Bouma admitted he could have chosen a better word, despite revealing the coach put the issue to rest after the ODI series.
“Shukri also took some heat for his ‘grovel’ comment. I was pressured by the media on that side, asking me to clarify the comments. I thought Sukri was the best person to give context to it all,” Bouma said.
“When I first heard about it, it had an unpleasant taste, but I think it reminded me of how tough and competitive the Test series is and what that means to some people in the team.
“Shukri spoke after the one-day series and put the issue to bed. In retrospect, he said he could have chosen a better word, and I agree with him.”