“He's the guy who can win you games” - AB de Villiers reveals India’s ‘pivotal’ player in T20 World Cup 2026

Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has revealed Hardik Pandya as India’s key player in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 competition, scheduled to start on Saturday, February 6, in India and Sri Lanka.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former dashing batter has emphasized Hardik Pandya as India’s pivotal player with the bat and ball, stating that he can bat anywhere in the line-up and bowl in any situation in the shortest format of the game.

"There are a lot of players offering skill with both bat and ball, so you can really play around with the balance of the squad. Abhishek Sharma upfront, Sanju Samson wicketkeeper. I noted no Rishabh Pant here, no Shubman Gill, no Yashasvi Jaiswal, no Jitesh Sharma, so those are the unlucky guys who missed out," AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

"Hardik will be the big pivotal player. He's the guy who can win you games with bat and bowl. He can bowl in any situation, he can bat anywhere in the line-up. When he walks out to bat, there's a sense in the opposition like we need to get him out, we're gonna lose the game if he bats for three or four overs,” he added.

"Same with the ball in hand, the minute he comes on, you feel like he has a golden arm and he might just break the partnership, so a great asset for Suryakumar (Yadav) to have in the team," he concluded.

In the recently concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa, Hardik racked up 142 runs in three innings at an average of 71.00 and a strike rate of 186.84, with two half-centuries. With the ball, he pocketed three wickets.

India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK).

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