“Nothing away from Bumrah, but…”- South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad drops bombshell statement on this player

subhradeep-choudhury — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 13:26:32 GMT

Shukri Conrad drops bombshell statement.

South Africa’s head coach, Shukri Conrad, has dropped a massive statement on India’s all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, post their 3-1 series defeat in the five-match T20I series against the Blue Brigade, due to their 30-run defeat in the final clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Hardik smashed his very first delivery over the long-on region for a massive six to get going and continued the same momentum to end with a fine knock of 63 runs in just 25 balls at a strike rate of 252, thanks to five boundaries and as many sixes. Tilak Varma clubbed 73 runs in 42 balls at a strike rate of 173.81.

“Taking nothing away from (Jasprit) Bumrah, I think Hardik has been the difference in the two teams. His knock tonight was the difference between us winning and losing. He played a knock in the first one as well, where he just walked in, and we had him in a little bit of trouble.” Conrad expressed in the post-match press conference.

Shukri Conrad praises Hardik Pandya’s brutal batting

Apart from Hardik, Bumrah also contributed massively in the contest with a magical bowling figure of 2/17 in four overs at an economy rate of 4.20. India, having put 231 on the board, restricted the Proteas to 201. Hardik highlighted his mindset with the bat during the powerful knock.

“Look, there’s a reason why he’s one of the best in the world in this format (and) his performances have been right up there. I don’t know who the man of the series is out there, but I’ll be very surprised if it’s not him.” Conrad noted to the reporters.

“Winning games is what you play for, and it’s always exciting when your contribution helps the team get over the line. I actually told my partner beforehand that I was going to step out first ball and try to hit it for six. I was confident it would come off. The situation suited my style; I backed myself, and it worked. I took a calculated risk, and thankfully it went my way.” Pandya addressed in the post-match presentation.