Hardik Pandya could be close to Player of the Tournament award in World Cup 2023: Sreesanth

Former Indian pacer S Sreesanth was a part of the 2011 World Cup winning team and had seen the great Yuvraj Singh produce some special all-round performances to win the Player of the Tournament award.

The former pacer feels Hardik Pandya can play a role similar to that of Yuvraj for the current Indian team and could potentially with the award this year. He is also backing Kuldeep Yadav to be in the running, given the form that the latter has been in of late.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Sreesanth had to say about Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav:

"Yuvi Paaji did it for us so if you look at the Man of the Series award and if you think an all-rounder should do it then Hardik Pandya could be close to that award. He will be important for India. Kuldeep Yadav can also win it or be among the top three contenders if he keeps shattering records in the World Cup."

He further added:

"Don't forget Hardik's fastest hundred. Don't forget Bumrah's two five-wicket hauls. Kuldeep Yadav will bowl the best spell ever seen by an Indian spinner."

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Sreesanth predicts India vs New Zealand as 2023 World Cup final

Sreesanth also predicted India and New Zealand to play the final of the World Cup in Ahmedabad on November 19. The Kiwis beat India in the 2019 World Cup semifinal and the former pacer believes the Men in Blue will avenge that defeat.

On this, he stated:

"I feel it will be India and New Zealand in the final. We will take revenge of the 2019 World Cup and hopefully do something similar to the 50-all-out against Sri Lanka. I am pretty positive and as Indian fans everyone should think about India winning."

With the World Cup at home, Indian fans will be expecting their team to finally end the 10-year-long wait for an ICC Trophy.