Cricket / Pandya's 2 watches worth ₹5 crore seized by customs officials at Mumbai airport

Cricket Desk: Hardik Pandya, who has not had the best of on-field times in the recent past, found himself in an off-field soup when the customs officials confiscated two expensive watches (combined worth around INR 5 crore) upon his arrival to India from the United Arab Emirates, following the conclusion of the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup.

An ABP Live report states the incident to be from late November 14 night, when the team members touched down home. Pandya, who neither declared the watches as custom items nor possessed the invoices for either of them, was stopped by the officials, who later impounded both the watches.

An avid watch collector, Pandya has some of the rarest and most renowned brands in his collection, including Patek Phillippe Nautilus Platinum 5711. As per a GQIndia report, the 5711 features “32 baguette-cut emeralds, all of which are factory set, the watch is forged entirely in platinum, with both the 40mm case and integrated bracelet made of the most exotic of metals.” The rare piece is also “reserved for the choicest customers”.

Meanwhile, Pandya’s case, deemed to be a non-recurring type by the DRI officials, has been handed over to the Airport Customs, it is learned.

Hardik Pandya excluded from India’s home T20Is against New Zealand

The Indian team is set to host T20 World Cup runners-up New Zealand for three T20Is and two Tests between November 17 to December 7. The Chetan Sharma-led national selectors committee announced the 16-man squad for the three T20Is earlier this week, which had Pandya’s name missing.

While the committee did not specifically lay out any reason behind his exclusion, certain reports suggest fitness issues to be the cause. Pandya’s persistent back problem has kept him off his bowling duties for the larger part of this year.

He only bowled twice in five games at the 2021 T20 World Cup, where India’s campaign ended in the Super12s as they lost to Pakistan and New Zealand at the start to dent their chances right at the onset. Despite the three consecutive victories that followed, the team lost the qualification race to New Zealand in their group.