Former Indian opener, Krishnamachari Srikkanth has opined that the flamboyant all-rounder, Hardik Pandya should be appointed as full-time India T20I skipper, and the management should start rebuilding a side for the 2024 T20 World Cup. India crashed out of the 2022 T20 World Cup after suffering a forgettable 10-wicket defeat at the hands of eventual champions England in the semi-final. It was a one-sided game as India failed to stop Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, who chased down 169 with four overs to spare.

During recent conversation on Star Sports, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said, “See if I was the chairman of the selection committee, I would say that Hardik Pandya should be the captain of the 2024 World Cup, straight away, I had put it that way – number one.”

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Srikkanth added that the men in blue should start rebuilding its T20I side with the series against New Zealand, beginning November 18. The Pandya-led Indian team will play three T20Is against the BlackCaps.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth elaborated, “And start rebuilding a side right from today, that is from the New Zealand series which is going to happen in a week’s time. You start today, the preparation for the World Cup, you need to understand, starts 2 years in advance. So, you do whatever you want to do, the trial-and-error policy, do whatever you want, try it for one year, then you form a team and by 2023 make sure this is going to be at the level that is going to play the World Cup.”

The former cricketer also said that India needs more fast-bowling all-rounders, highlighting that India won the World Cups in 1983, 2007, and 2011 because of fast-bowling or semi-all-rounders.

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Elaborating the same, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said, “You need more fast-ball all-rounders. Let’s see, the 1983 World Cup, 2011 World Cup, and 2007 T20 World Cup, why did we win? We had many fast-ball all-rounders and semi-all-rounders. So, to identify these guys – guys like (Deepak) Hooda, like Hooda, there are going to be so many more Hoodas.”