{"id":3374,"date":"2026-04-22T14:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/?p=3374"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:24:09","slug":"hardik-named-captain-as-india-tests-world-cup-readiness-against-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/hardik-named-captain-as-india-tests-world-cup-readiness-against-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardik Named Captain as India Tests World Cup Readiness Against Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a squad for a series against Afghanistan starting on May 3rd. Hardik Pandya has been appointed as the captain for this series.<br>The article highlights the influence of Gautam Gambhir and the inclusion of Shubman Gill as central figures in the team&#8217;s strategy.<br>This series is being viewed as a crucial preparation step for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup. The selectors are focusing on a mix of experienced players and young talent. There is specific mention of managing player workload, with some senior players being rested to ensure fitness for the World Cup.<br>Aside from Hardik, Gambhir, and Gill, the text references the roles of players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer regarding their fitness and availability for the squad. The article emphasizes that the BCCI is using the Afghanistan series to &#8220;test the waters&#8221; and solidify the team combination. It notes that while Afghanistan is a competitive side, the primary goal for India is to find the right balance before heading into the global tournament. The &#8220;Gambhir-era&#8221; influence is hinted at as a shift toward a more aggressive and disciplined approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a squad for a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":3375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3376,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions\/3376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theimphalreporter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}