South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad reacted to the controversial cupcake advertisement aired by the official broadcaster, Star Sports during the T20 World Cup 2026 ahead of the India versus South Africa Super Eight clash. Conrad sarcastically said that his team enjoyed the promo, which mocked their history in ICC tournaments.
Conrad addressed the controversy after South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in their final Super Eight match on March 1. “There’s always pressure. I think it’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure. As for the C word, I think there’s another one for it — cupcakes. I thought we kind of enjoyed that,” Conrad said to the media after the match.
The advertisement showed an Indian fan telling a South African supporter that he should be satisfied with the last piece of cupcake he picked. While eating it, he starts choking. The ad suggested that South Africa have never won an ICC trophy and were choked by India during the final of the 2024 World Cup. After heavy backlash, the broadcaster deleted the ad from its platform.
South Africa are currently the only unbeaten team in the tournament. Reflecting on that, Conrad said, “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.”
He added, “Playing a top side like New Zealand is pressure enough. So there’s no added pressure, and I’m glad that we’refavourites because I’ve always felt that, as a South African team, you want to be able to play as favourites because it’seasy being an underdog.”
Conrad is confident that South Africa will make it to the final, which is scheduled to be played on March 8. “And yeah, hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday and then on to our home ground in Ahmedabad (for the final),” Conrad added.
South Africa will face New Zealand in the semi-final on March 4 in Kolkata.
For latest sports updates: Follow RevSportz