South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad has urged his team to embrace the pressure of being labelled favourites as they prepare for a high-stakes semi-final clash against New Zealand in the Men's T20 World Cup on Wednesday in Kolkata. The Proteas have been in commanding form throughout the tournament, and they extended their unbeaten run with a convincing five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Delhi on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the crucial match, Conrad stressed the importance of maintaining belief under pressure.
"There's always pressure. I think it's what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure," Conrad said while speaking to reporters.
"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. Whether we start as favourites, probably because we're the only unbeaten side in the competition. But I don't know if that adds to the pressure. 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 favourites because I always felt that as a South African team, you want to be able to play as a favourite because it's easy being an underdog. The expectation isn't great or that much. And now we've assumed the tag, which we don't really talk much about," he said.
"But if we can continue doing what we're doing, then yeah, you need a little bit of luck along the way as well. And hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday, and then on to our home ground in Ahmedabad."
Now, with a place in the final on the line, South Africa face a formidable challenge in the Black Caps, who have also shown enough consistency.