South Africa National Cricket Team head coach Shukri Conrad is giving a loud reply to those calling his team chokers ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal. Recently, Shukri Conrad faced a blistering question about the “choker” tag, but he turned it into absolute mocking.
For years, South Africa had strong teams but had never been able to win the World Cup, and that earned them the chokers’ tag. Most recently, South Africa lost the 2024 T20 World Cup final to India.
However, in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, South Africa is in amazing form. They won all four games in the group stage as well as all three Super 8 games too. They are the only unbeaten side in the tournament, hunting for their first-ever title.
Shukri Conrad fires back at “Choker” tag
Taking a dig at the ICC broadcasters, the South African head coach talked about the famous “cupcake” ad that aired before his team's 76-run win over India in Ahmedabad. Conrad said that his team enjoyed the ad and even joked that “cupcakes” is a better C word than “chokers.”
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Shukri Conrad even reminded everyone that South Africa “are the ICC World Test Championship champion and unbeaten in this T20 World Cup, and defeated India by 76 runs” in the Super 8 match.
The Proteas head coach also warned the ICC broadcasters. He said they should stop calling South Africa chokers. He made it clear that South Africa is not scared of pressure anymore.
There's always pressure: Shukri Conrad
Shukri Conrad said at the press conference, “There's always pressure. I think it’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure. As for the C word (choker), I think there’s another one called ‘cupcakes’ that we have to throw in; don’t want to forget that. I thought we kind of enjoyed that.”
South Africa will play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal, and Conrad said that his team is confident and ready to fight in every game. Conrad said they will prepare for their semifinal game against New Zealand in the same strong way.
Conrad added, “I don’t think it (pressure) will change anything. For us, it will be business as usual. We will start as favourites against New Zealand probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the tournament. But I don’t know if that adds to the pressure. Playing the semifinal is pressure enough. Playing a top side is pressure enough.”
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Semi-final is pressure enough: Shukri Conrad
South Africa will play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal. They go into the match as favourites because they are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far.
The coach admitted that the semifinal itself is high pressure, but being favourites does not worry them. He also hopes the Proteas side beats the Black Caps and qualifies for the final.
He signed off by saying, “I think the semi-final is pressure enough. Playing a top side, New Zealand is pressure enough. So, there’s no added pressure, and I’m glad that we’re favorites because I always felt that as a South African team, you want to be able to play as a favorite because it’s easy being an underdog. And yeah, hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday and then on to our home ground in Ahmedabad (for the final).”
🚨 SA. COACH "S. CONRAD" ON CHOKERS TAG & BIG DIG ON COMMENTERS 🚨
— Kiara (@crickiara) March 2, 2026
S .Conrad mocked Broadcasters on "Chokers" Word and Gave another word ' cupcakes ' (mocked 🤣)
He also said - We are WTC Champion and unbeaten in WC , defeated india 76 Runs🤯
pic.twitter.com/Eqi3smdhov
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