After securing their seventh win in a row at the T20 World Cup, the South Africa head coach feels confident heading into the semi-finals. The Proteas have emerged as one of the competition’s powerhouses with the knockouts looming.
“I’m glad that we’re favourites, because I’ve always felt that as a South African team, you want to be able to play as a favourite. It’s easy being an underdog, you know. The expectation isn’t that great or that much. Now we’ve assumed the tag of favourites, which we don’t really talk much about,” Shukri Conrad told ESPNCricinfo.
“If we can continue doing what we’re doing, and we need a little bit of luck along the way as well, hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday. And then, on to our home ground in Ahmedabad for the final.”
“There’s always pressure. It’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure,” he highlighted. “It’s really about embracing that pressure. And we don’t do things any differently. We’re going to prepare exactly the same way for New Zealand and whether we start that game as favourites, probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the competition. I don’t know if that adds to the pressure. A semi-final is pressure enough. Playing a top side, New Zealand, is pressure enough. So there’s no added pressure.”
