Ahead of the India-Sri Lanka match in Mumbai,the press conference, starring the captain, started with giggles and ended with giggles.

Along the way, it had all sorts of flavours typical of a great Rohit presser. There was fun, seriousness, and some well-directed fluff.

This is, by the way, how the press conference started:

Nothing! Just Rohit Sharma being Rohit Sharma in press conferences.😭🤌 https://t.co/AkqpStxOEM

— Immy|| 🇮🇳 (@TotallyImro45) November 1, 2023

Witty

“I will become a bad captain”

Rohit Sharma has led India exactly 100 times – roughly 22 per cent of his career – aside from the small matter of five IPL trophies. He knows the ins and outs of leading a side in India. There’s no scope to rest on his laurels or admire a spotless World Cup record so far. When asked how it feels to have everything going right Rohit calmly said: “I know how this works… one game here and there, and suddenly I will become a bad captain!”

“Our media manager delayed our practice” 

When a journalist asked a long, winding question on Sachin Tendulkar’s just-unveiled statue at the stadium, and asked Rohit to wax eloquent on the beauty of the statue, the captain first decided to first take a friendly shot at the media manager, Anand Subramaniam.

“We didn’t get to see it [the statue] so closely because we were practicing and our media manager delayed the press conference…”, taunting him for delaying the pre-scheduled presser due to the trophy unveiling.

“Ab kya bolun mai?”

“What do I say now?” – This sentence, along with a quizzical look, has become part of Rohit’s folklore. When asked to pour forth on the subject Tendulkar’s statue, the reluctance was quite evident.

“I haven’t even seen the shot yet,” Rohit confessed. “It’s over cover, is it? Straight lofted shot, yes. Ab mai kya bolun? (“Now what should I say in that?).” The entire room erupted in laughter.

“Straight lofted shot statue has been made there. It’s nice. I hope you guys enjoyed it”.

Thoughtful

“Look after our future generations”

Rohit has been an active advocate of environment initiatives over the last few years, from ‘Save The Rhinos’ to ‘Plastic Free Ocean’. When asked about the extreme pollution levels in Delhi and Mumbai, and how young cricketers would cope up in such an environment, Rohit, without going too deep, touched upon the impact it could have on the generations to follow.

“Looking at our future generation, your kids, my kids, obviously, it’s quite important that they get to live without any fear,” Rohit said.

“So, yeah, every time I get to speak outside of cricket, if we are not discussing cricket, I always talk about this, that you know we have to look after our future generation.”

“Uncle Percy was the first ever fan I met who was so genuine”

When asked about Uncle Percy, the Sri Lanka fan who recently passed away, Rohit actually gave a long and thoughtful answer, sharing his personal experiences with the man, the first one dating back to 2005.

“He’s been such a great fan of cricket,” Rohit said. “Of course, Sri Lankan team but he’s probably the first ever fan that I met, who was so genuine and the support from his side towards his team, towards the players was fantastic to see.

“In my eyes, he was the number one supporter of cricket at that point in time. Obviously, there have been so many fans now, but the first ever fan, cricket fan I saw was him.”

Tactful

“You can still play with three spinners”

For the Indian team, the biggest question mark has been over their bowling composition. Talking about his team, Rohit teased at the idea of playing three spinners, indicating that they have been the ones stopping the run flow in the middle overs.

“If the situation demands for us to play three spinners, we will play three spinners,” Rohit said. “Because I feel spinners actually with a lot of skill set can put a break on the scoring rate in the middle overs if our spinners have got so much skill bowling in these conditions.” But he also said that none of the quicks want to rest and are raring to play each game.

“Pandya’s procedure has been very positive”

How fit is Pandya? With several timelines floating around, Rohit was obviously ready to counter the question. He said a lot without revealing much at all, keeping it abstract with “his procedure has been positive”, “we will get to see him as soon as possible” and “we’re watching the situation daily”.

“This is not a cakewalk for us”

Rohit almost termed Sri Lanka’s possible win over India as an “upset”, before navigating out of it. He did end up saying that, at no point, this would be a “cakewalk” for them. It was a subtle way to underplay the opposition, without having to gloat at all.

“I think in this World Cup, we have seen a lot of games, a lot of – I wouldn’t call it an upset, because every team here is to win games – so it’s not an upset. But every team is trying to beat the other team, so at no point or no game you can think that this is a cakewalk for us”. Well, you have the upper hand now.

“When I open, the scoreboard starts from zero”

Probably the trickiest question to dodge was one on his batting approach. When told that some “former cricketers feel it will be better if you become a little selfish. You will last longer”, Rohit tactfully evaded it. He had to be careful, otherwise anything else would have led to comparisons with Virat Kohli’s approach – an aspect highly-debated through the competition.

“It’s not like I just have to go and swing the bat,” Rohit said. “I have to swing it well, play well and keep the team in a good situation. This is my mindset. When I open, the scoreboard starts from zero. So as a batsman I have to think, I have to set the tone for the game.

“So, I have that advantage or you can call it a benefit that I am starting the batting and there is no pressure of wickets because everything is 0-0, so when you have to start like that, you can be fearless”.