Hardik Pandya's return makes huge difference to India's T20 World Cup chances, says Virender Sehwag

The two-Test losses dented India’s run in the ICC Test Championship, but the ODI losses — both to New Zealand — aren’t that big of an immediate issue. All the cricketing nations have shifted their focus towards the T20 World Cup in Australia starting in October. With Hardik Pandya’s recovery to full fitness, the former India opener reckons India go in with a strong chance of winning the tournament for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2007.

"In T20s, one cannot predict favourites. Such is the unpredictable nature of the format, any single player can change the complexion of the game on a given day. The return of Hardik Pandya will make a huge difference to the Indian team. The whole combination will change with an all-rounder of the calibre of Hardik," Sehwag told PTI.

Kohli's poor form in recent times — exaggerated by his returns in New Zealand — has been one of the major talking points since team India’s set foot on home soil again. As someone who has been through the highs and lows of the game himself, Sehwag sympathizes with Kohli and says there is nothing to worry about.

"He is a class batsman but that has happened to all the great batsmen in different eras be it Sachin Tendulkar, Steven Waugh, Jacques Kallis or Ricky Ponting,” he said.

India’s bright start to the new year with a comeback win over Australia at home and a 5-0 whitewashing of the Kiwis on their turf seems like a long time back given the dismal run since. In Sehwag’s terms, New Zealand dominated India across the ODIs and the Test series. 

"We must admit that the Kiwis were superior to us in the ODIs and Tests. In the T20s, Kiwis lost close matches. In the shortest format it is always difficult to make a quick comeback,” Sehwag added.