Memory to cherish: The 222-run partnership between Tendulkar-Azharuddin was one of the crucial spectacular batting shows of all time at Newlands, in line with Conrad.
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Shukri Conrad has seen all of it. He performed cricket earlier than and after the apartheid in South Africa.
“Let’s say I played in the White side and yes, I played in the non-White side,” Conrad advised The Hindu. “And then I was involved when unity came along. A little bit of everything. So yes, I have seen history.”
At the second he’s happy that India couldn’t make historical past when he’s the coach of the South African Test aspect. India couldn’t conquer the ultimate frontier — a Test collection win within the Rainbow Nation.
The two-match collection resulted in a 1-1 draw. He is upset that there have been solely two Tests within the collection.
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“I would have loved to play India in a five-match series here in South Africa; that’s like a dream,” he stated. “These are two quality sides and fans from both India and South Africa would love it too. And I would love to go to India and play five matches.”
Shukri Conrad.
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P. Okay. Ajith Kumar
But South Africa isn’t scheduled to play a variety of Test cricket. “Our players want to play test cricket, and if we had the resources that India, England and Australia have, we would play more Test matches,” he stated.
Conrad loves Test cricket. His most cherished reminiscence about Test cricket is watching Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin placing up one of the crucial spectacular shows of batting of all time, as they added 222 after coming collectively at 58 for 5 at Newlands, his house floor, manner again in 1996-97.
“I sat in the Railway Stand there and I watched it, and I said to myself, I don’t think I would see anything better,” Conrad recalled. “This ground has not seen anything better. Neither have I.”
Though he completely loved watching that masterly innings from Tendulkar (169), he charges Virat Kohli as the best batter he has ever seen. “I remember chatting to Rahul Dravid about it a few years ago,” he stated. “I told Dravid I cannot believe that Sachin Tendulkar was better than Kohli. And he said to me, ‘Look, Sachin stays the master, Virat is great’.”
What in regards to the coaches in cricket?
“Graham Ford got me involved many years ago and I had a stint with him as an assistant coach,” Conrad stated. “I really admired Graham in terms of how he went about things. I knew the late Bob Woolmer reasonably well, he was a good coach, and he had a little bit to do with my cricket in some capacity.
“The late Hylton Ackerman, I thought, was a cricket brain second to none. So I always made sure that I kind of aligned myself with good coaches that I could learn from. But I think the biggest thing for me as a coach is that you have got to understand that you can learn from your players as well, you know. The coach being the only voice is long gone.”
