'NZ went to India and beat them': Shukri Conrad buries cricket’s Big-3 with brutal statement

South Africa National Cricket Team head coach Shukri Conrad has come down hard on the cricket's "Big Three" - Australia National Cricket Team, India National Cricket Team, and England National Cricket Team.

Shukri Conrad said that there isn't 'big anything' and the South Africa National Cricket Team treat every team equally, bluntly rejecting the dominance of Australia, England and India in world cricket.

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I don't think we need to do anything out of the extraordinary to beat Australia - Shukri Conrad

Under the leadership of Temba Bavuma, the South Africa National Cricket Team will lock horns with one of the Big Three cricket teams - the Australia National Cricket Team - in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 from June 11 at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

India, Australia, and England are labelled as cricket's "Big Three" because they dominate the sport in several key ways, including financial power and control as well as the global impact on the game.

BCCI, CA, and ECB control a major share of ICC revenue due to their large fan bases and lucrative broadcasting deals, and they also play more Test matches than any other country.

The teams like South Africa, despite showing their dominance in the red-ball format, don't play as many games as the Big Three, and this time around, they would be hoping to send a message to world cricket by winning the WTC Final.

Beating the Australian team won't be an easy job for South Africa. Still, the Proteas head coach, Shukri Conrad, believes that they don't need to do anything extraordinary to defeat the Aussies.

"I don't think we need to do anything out of the extraordinary to beat Australia. If we were able to achieve this with the scarce schedule we've had, imagine what we'd be able to do if we had a proper schedule," Conrad said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

I think only in their own minds have they dubbed themselves the Big Three - Shukri Conrad

Shukri Conrad further lashed out at the Big Three and highlighted how they were beaten by New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies in their own backyard in recent years. He also made a sincere request to the ICC and elaborated:

"I think only in their own minds have they dubbed themselves the Big Three. I don't think anybody else has. We certainly don't respect Pakistan less than we do Australia, or India.

"I don't think it's a big anything. New Zealand went to India and beat them three zip. Sri Lanka won a Test match in England. West Indies won a Test in Australia. So are they really the Big Three?"

"We need strong Test cricket, which is the lifeblood of the game around the world. The other formats rely on Test cricket. It's still a shop window for a lot of players who want to make it in the other formats. So the ICC needs to take this in hand and ensure that the global Test game is looked after, rather than attend to the whims and fancies of a few nations."

I've been engaging with KG ever since I learnt about it - Shukri Conrad

Kagiso Rabada recently served a ban after testing positive for recreational drug use - cocaine - but he has now returned to cricket and apologised for his move.

Talking about the premier pacer, Shukri Conrad said that Rabada is now in a good space of mind after serving his sentence. He said:

"I've been engaging with KG ever since I learnt about it. The biggest thing for me was whether KG is all right and to close ranks around him and ensure that he's in a good space. At the end of the day, we care for all our players. He served his sentence, and all that I'm interested in now is KG producing performances that we know he's capable of."