T20 World Cup | Coach Conrad wants South Africa to embrace the ‘favourite’ tag

The pressure of expectations can at once be a blessing and a burden. In past ICC white-ball events, South Africa has appeared to be largely weighed down by that pressure. As it gears up to face New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, head coach Shukri Conrad wants his team to embrace the attention.

The Proteas, after all, are fully deserving of the tag of being the team to beat in the shortest format’s showpiece event. Having strung together seven wins in as many matches, Aiden Markram and Co. are the only undefeated outfit in the tournament.

“There’s always pressure, and it’s really about embracing that pressure. Whether we start as favourites (against NZ), probably because we’re the only unbeaten side. I’m glad we’re favourites because I always felt that as a South African team, you want to be able to play as a favourite. It’s easy being an underdog. The expectation isn’t great or that much,” Conrad said on Sunday.

The knockout phase has historically been South Africa’s Kryptonite, but as the 58-year-old pointed out, it is only by getting that far time and again that the albatross around its neck can be banished. Since the 2023 ODI World Cup, the African giant, which notably won the 2025 World Test Championship final against Australia under Temba Bavuma’s leadership, has reached the last-four stage of every ICC limited-overs event.

“If you continually make semifinals and finals, eventually you’re going to win one. But if you don’t make it, you can’t win anything,” Conrad stated.