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South Africa coach Shukri Conrad feels India are under pressure to make it to the ultimate and his team would really like to use that when the 2 sides meet in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
India will tackle South Africa of their first match of the Super Eights. (PTI Photo)
Along with their on-field exploits, the South Africans are also banking on the ‘pressure’ that the defending champions India can be under as they gear up for his or her Super Eights clash of the continuing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Being the defending champions and the co-host, India are the favourites to win the title.
India encountered little to no challenge within the group-stage, winning all 4 of their matches comfortably. Nevertheless, the Super Eights can be a unique prospect given they can be up against South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies – all three qualifying from their respective groups with 4 wins as well.
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad is hoping for India to crumble under the pressure of heavy expectations.
“There’s a lot scrutiny, especially (for) a side like India. They’re going to be under a variety of pressure to make the semi-finals and clearly go on and make the finals as well. Hopefully, we will expose them and make them vulnerable under that pressure,” Conrad said.
Shukri Conrad, while admitting that his team can be under the pump as they are going to not only be coping with a powerful Indian outfit but additionally the partisan crowd that may pack the Narendra Modi Stadium, turning it right into a sea of blue, indicated that their hosts even have reasons to feel the warmth.
“Pressure is an enormous thing nevertheless it’s pressure each for us and them,” Conrad said. “I believe all of us talk concerning the pressure of playing against the highest side, but we’re not quite aware of what the pressures they’re under. I’m not, for one, suggesting that a man that has three geese in his last three matches comes under pressure for his place in his side. No.”
Nevertheless, the conditions aren’t unfamiliar to South Africa. They were here for a full tour last 12 months after they won a Test series 2-0 before suffering series defeats within the ODIs and T20Is that followed.
The tour, Conrad says, has helped them prepare higher for the ‘hostile’ conditions.
“That tour gave us a extremely good insight as to what we might be up against. That tour prepped us very well when it comes to the hostility, the keenness that’s being built up around Sunday where we could have 130,000 people crammed into the stadium they usually’re going to be in blue. But Sunday is just certainly one of the few matches that now we have to win to get through, and we’re as well prepared as we will be,” he said.
February 21, 2026, 08:50 IST
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