‘I remember telling Rahul Dravid I can’t believe Sachin Tendulkar was better than Virat Kohli’ Premium

South Africa's Test head coach Shukri Conrad reflects on his journey, the importance of Test cricket & the impact of SA20.

Shukri Conrad took over as head coach of South Africa’s Test side at a challenging time last January. The team had lost both its previous away series and the future wasn’t looking great, with the Proteas scheduled to play significantly fewer Tests than India, Australia and England. He, however, guided South Africa to wins in his first three Tests. A few days after his boys thrashed India by an innings and 32 runs at Centurion, he sat down for an interview with The Hindu at Cape Town’s Newlands, his home ground and one of cricket’s prettiest venues. Excerpts:

The victory at Centurion came at a time when there has been a lot of talk about the future of Test cricket in South Africa. We can already see the impact of SA20…

I don’t think Test cricket in South Africa is in trouble when I speak from a player’s point of view. Every player in that changeroom wants to play Test cricket. We also understand that if we had the resources that India, England or Australia have, we would play more Test matches. My job is to ensure we play well whenever we do play Tests.

Isn’t it a pity that a strong side like South Africa, which has played some great Tests since its readmission into the sport and has produced several outstanding players, is not getting enough opportunities?

We have always been a great side. But every time we do play, we have an opportunity to show the world that we should be playing more. Hopefully the next couple of cycles of the World Test Championship will be different. Test cricket is still hugely important for us as a team, as a country.

Now there is this situation of you having to play a Test series in New Zealand with just seven capped players, as most of your best eleven are contracted to feature in the SA20.

Everybody is blaming everybody in the whole scenario. We understand as cricketers that the SA20 league is hugely important. It brings in the revenue, so that we can have more Test cricket in the future. If SA20 wasn’t there then we probably wouldn’t have Test cricket in South Africa.