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London - Senior batsman Suresh Raina believes all-rounder Hardik Pandya has the potential to be India's game-changer at the Cricket World Cup.
Pandya, an archetypal modern one-day all-rounder, was an instrumental figure in the Mumbai Indians' title-winning Indian Premier League campaign, scoring 402 runs at a strike rate of over 190, while taking 14 wickets with ball in hand as well as scoring the fastest fifty in this year's edition.
And Raina believes that if Pandya can take that sort of form in to the World Cup, he will be vital to India's cause.
"He can field and bat well, can bowl six-seven crucial overs. He can bat anywhere. He needs to get a lot of confidence from the management to express himself. If he can take his IPL confidence to the World Cup, he will be our game-changer," Raina was quoted as saying on India Today.
"I think he will be the most important player for India in this World Cup. I won’t be surprised if he gets the man of the tournament, should we make the last-four," Raina added.
India open their World Cup campaign against South African at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday, June 5.
