Rohit Sharma's 5 most hilarious statements in press conferences
Indian cricket team's ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma has achieved enormous success in his brief stint as skipper so far. Under his captaincy, the Indian team won the 2024 T20 World Cup and finished runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup and World Test Championship Final.
Being the captain and a key batter of Team India, Rohit has addressed several press conferences in his career so far. Unlike most of the other captains, the 37-year-old likes to keep the atmosphere light-hearted while speaking with reporters.
On that note, let's take a look at the top five most hilarious moments from Rohit Sharma's press conferences.
#1 Rohit Sharma's cheeky response to a reporter's question about Rishabh Pant
During the 2019 World Cup, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Rishabh Pant. Fans loved his aggressive batting, and most of the Indian team's supporters wanted him to bat at number four. However, the selectors did not pick him initially. He then joined the squad as a replacement and came out to bat at the same position against England.
India lost that game, and Rohit came out to address the press after the defeat. A reporter asked him if he was surprised to see Pant ahead of an in-form Hardik Pandya at number four, to which Rohit replied:
"Not really, because you all wanted Rishabh Pant to play right? (smiles) Right from India, you wanted. Where is Rishabh Pant? Where is Rishabh Pant? There he is at number four!"
The entire room burst into laughter after Rohit's cheeky response to the reporter about Pant's batting position.
#2 Rohit Sharma's witty response to a journalist asking if he is ready to become India's full-time captain
Rohit was India's vice-captain for a long time in white-ball cricket during the late 2010s. He even captained India when Virat Kohli was unavailable, and under his leadership, India won the Nidahas Trophy in 2018. When a journalist asked him if he is ready to become India's full-time skipper, Rohit smiled and said:
"Absolutely. We've won now, so I am ready, of course."
#3 Rohit Sharma's hilarious reply to a Pakistani reporter
India beat Pakistan for the seventh time in ODI World Cups in 2019, and after the match, a Pakistani journalist asked Rohit if he would like to share some tips with his 'colleagues' from the other side of the border. Rohit responded:
"If I become the Pakistan coach, I will definitely say. What can I say now?"
#4 Rohit Sharma forgets what the journalist asked him
After Mumbai Indians won IPL 2017, Rohit Sharma attended a press conference along with Parthiv Patel and Shane Bond. One of the journalists asked a long question to Rohit. Before the opening batter responded, he asked a question to Parthiv and Bond as well.
When Rohit received the opportunity to speak, he replied:
"I forgot what you asked."
Rohit himself had a big smile on his face as he looked at the journalists, wondering how they come up with such long questions.
#5 Rohit Sharma reminds journalists of what to ask at a press conference
The home series against Sri Lanka in 2022 was Rohit's first as India's full-time Test captain. However, most of the fans focused more on the fact that Virat Kohli was set to play the 100th Test of his career in that series. Rohit received quite a few questions about the same in the press conference.
When a journalist finally asked why isn't anyone talking about the pitch and playing combination, Rohit replied:
"Sahi sawaal to koi puch hi nahi raha hai. Ye sahi sawaal hai jo abhi aap puch rahe ho. Crowd aa raha hai ki nahi, pitch kaisa hai, kya team combination hai. Ye to koi puch hi nahi raha hai, mere liye accha hai."
(Rough translation – This is a proper question. Nobody is asking the correct question. This question is good. Nobody is asking anything related to crowd, pitch, team combination. It is good for me actually.)
Rohit will soon address a press conference before India's first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai next week. It will be interesting to see if there's a new addition to this list soon.