I informed Dravid that Sachin Tendulkar was higher than Kohli, says South Africa Test coach Shukri Conrad

Shukri Conrad has seen all of it. He performed cricket earlier than and after the apartheid in South Africa.

“I played in both the White and the non-White sides,” Conrad informed Sportstar. 

“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 sequence win within the Rainbow Nation. The two-match sequence led to a 1-1 draw. 

He is disenchanted that there have been solely two Tests within the sequence. “I would have loved to play India in a five-match series here in South Africa; that’s like a dream,” he mentioned. “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.”

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But South Africa isn’t scheduled to play plenty 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 mentioned.

Shukri Conrad and Keshav Maharaj throughout the South Africa nationwide males’s cricket workforce coaching session at Newlands Cricket Stadium on January 02, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Cricket South Africa Gallo Images

Conrad loves Test cricket. His most cherished reminiscence in regards to the format is watching Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin placing up one of the crucial spectacular shows of batting of all time. The two added 222 after coming collectively at 58 for 5 at Newlands, his dwelling floor, means again in 1996-97.

“I sat in the Railway Stand there and 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 totally loved watching that masterly innings from Tendulkar (169), he charges Virat Kohli as the best batter he has ever seen. 

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“I remember chatting with Rahul Dravid about it a few years ago,” he mentioned. “I cannot believe, I told Dravid, 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 mentioned. “I 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 was a cricket brain second to none. So I always made sure that I 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 to understand that you can learn from your players as well. The coach being the only voice is long gone,” the 56-year-old coach concluded.