Shukri Conrad is nothing if not a charmer, blessed with a quick and inclusive sense of humour and apparently at ease in any gathering in any room. Like he was during a press conference at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

The first question was how his team might handle the "challenge of playing in Indian conditions against the likes of [Ravindra] Jadeja, Axar [Patel], Kuldeep [Yadav] and Washy [Washington Sundar]".

Conrad's answer was a snappily delivered question: "Are they all playing?"

The roomful of reporters laughed heartily at his punchline.

Conrad might have railed at the hackneyed and debunked notion that South Africa's batters suffer from a kind of cultural clumsiness when facing spin. He might have referenced the fact that five members of his current squad have scored centuries in Asia. He might have pointed out that his premier spinner, Keshav Maharaj, is ranked higher than any of India's.

A man of flinty intelligence, he knew better than to do any of the above. So he made a joke instead. And it landed perfectly and disarmingly.

Much of the rest of Conrad's answers were peppered with "an iconic venue like Eden Gardens", "our biggest challenge", "a mouth-watering contest", "I compare this series and this match to that [WTC] final", "if you're a fan of cricket, I know what you're going to be doing for the next couple of days", and "[India have] got a new bunch of superstars, they've got new leaders. I think Shubman [Gill] is a great leader for them".

So far, so Shukri.

Conrad has had a long and successful career at all levels of coaching, crowned by South Africa beating Australia in the WTC final at Lord's in June. That sets him apart from all of his predecessors except Bob Woolmer, who guided Hansie Cronje's team to the 1998 ICC Knockout. No other coach has won a senior global trophy with South Africa.

But Conrad has something more valuable even than the mace. Maybe it's a touch of Mike Brearley's degree in people, or warmth, or confidence, or a knack for deflecting dull questions with sparky answers.

Whatever it is, the most recent people in his position didn't show it. That doesn't mean they didn't have strengths. Mark Boucher was all about discipline and directness. Rob Walter was a master plotter and planner. Both backed their players to the hilt. But it would have been out of character for them to crack a joke to move past a tired, all but irrelevant question.

Conrad isn't short on discipline and directness, and he can plot and plan with the best of them. He is also likeable, a favourite uncle. Unlike some of his peers, players want to play for him. Like the best bosses he makes going to work fun and rewarding; a good experience, not drudgery. And he's happy to share the limelight.

That much was clear from his answer to a question on what some of his players had spoken about during the audience they were granted with the godfather of all things Kolkata cricket, Sourav Ganguly, on Tuesday.

Conrad's answer started with another question: "The SA20, maybe? I think he's the boss at Pretoria Capitals and they broke the bank on Dewald Brevis. Keshav might be there as well, I'm not sure. An icon like Sourav, if he's around you want to glean whatever you can from the great man. It was just a nice catch-up with some of the guys that he's going to work with in a month's time."

Unsurprisingly, he was happy to have Temba Bavuma back from the calf injury that kept him out of the drawn Test series in Pakistan last month.

"He's our best player, it's as simple as that," Conrad said. "Which makes winning a Test in Pakistan so much better because we were able to do it without our best player. The calmness he brings to the batting unit, his leadership, his quiet demeanour - we get a lot of feel-good from that, and he certainly brings a lot of confidence."

If you've been to enough pre-series press conferences you will know that they produce mostly gumph meant to market the rubber. There is little context to go on because the narrative has yet to begin. What happened in another country weeks ago or in the same country years ago isn't neatly applicable. Those conditions weren't these, and at least half of those players aren't involved this time.

Clearly, Conrad knows this better than most. Just as clearly, he enjoys talking to the press. He's also good at it, which is not the same thing. If you can do that and say nice things about the opposition, why not? That will help soften the blows if and when the going gets tough, which it may do once the series starts on Friday.

Along with games of cricket, Conrad wins friends. And influences people. They're skills that will serve him well in a culture as focused on itself as India's.