South Africa coach's hilarious take on 'chokers' tag: You need a sniff to choke

South Africa suffered a heavy nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semi-final at Eden Gardens. The loss ended their unbeaten run and reignited debate over their performance in knockout matches. However, Shukri Conrad had a rather hilarious take on the choker tag.

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad had a humorous take on the ‘chokers’ tag often attributed to his side following their exit from the T20 World Cup 2026 at the semi-final stage. South Africa were thrashed by nine wickets by New Zealand on Wednesday, 4 March, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, bringing an end to their seven-match unbeaten run in the tournament.

After yet another knockout defeat in an ICC event, Conrad was asked for his reaction to the ‘chokers’ label attached to the Proteas. The head coach, however, responded light-heartedly, stating that a team needed to be in the contest to choke — whereas his side were comprehensively beaten by New Zealand.

SA vs NZ, T20 World Cup semi-final: Highlights | Scorecard

“I don’t know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a proper walloping. To call it a choke, you need to have at least had a sniff of the game — and we didn’t. In South Africa, we’d say we were mauled. Tonight, we got a proper ‘snorkel’, which is another South African term for a real hiding,” said Conrad in the post-match press conference.

South Africa had seemingly shaken off the ‘chokers’ tag by winning the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2025 against Australia at Lord’s. However, they once again fell short on the big stage, losing the semi-final to New Zealand.

Conrad also pointed out that many had not expected his team to even reach the semi-finals and insisted that criticism is part and parcel of elite sport.