South Africa Conrad wants to face India in the 2026 T20 World Cup final, expressed his heartfelt desire.

Ahmedabad. South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad described his team’s India tour as “extremely successful” and expressed hope that the two teams will once again face each other in the final of next year’s T20 World Cup. India is the current champion of the T20 World Cup. The next World Cup will be played jointly between India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. India had defeated South Africa in the final of the last World Cup played in 2024.

“There is no doubt that we still have a lot of work to do but our players will now get a chance to play in SA20 for a month,” Conrad told reporters after South Africa’s 30-run defeat in the fifth and final T20 International. This will be great preparation to hone their skills so that we are ready to face the West Indies when they visit our country.”

“And of course there is the World Cup ahead, which is a big tournament. We may not have got the desired result in this T20 series but I am hopeful that we (India and South Africa) can reach the final again. I’m really hoping so.” Conrad didn’t hesitate in answering the question on whether this was the best Indian team ever as the hosts continued their 18 consecutive series unbeaten run at their home ground here on Friday. He said, “(India) is a great team. You have to be at your best all the time against them. The way he batted and created constant pressure on the bowlers from the very first ball. They also have some match-winning bowlers.

Conrad said, “But as you asked, to be honest, I don’t think there is any better team than this, so they are definitely at the top.” South Africa’s coach said that Hardik Pandya, who scored a half-century in 16 balls in the fifth match, created the difference between the two teams in T20 international matches. He said, “Without expressing any doubt on the ability of Jasprit Bumrah, I believe that Hardik has made the difference between the two teams. His innings tonight decided the difference between our victory and defeat. He played a brilliant innings in the first match also.” Conrad said, ”Overall this tour was very successful for us and we presented a tough challenge in all three formats.”