Custom officials seize two luxury watches worth 5 crores from Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya at airport

The customs officials have confiscated Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya's two luxury watches at the airport upon his arrival in India from the UAE. The watches are reportedly worth five crores. The incident took place when the 28-year-old arrived at Mumbai airport from Dubai on the night of November 14.

According to a report by ABP, the stylish Indian cricketer could not produce the invoices for the watches. He also didn't declare these watches as custom items when asked by customs officers at Mumbai airport.

After getting dropped from the Indian T20I squad for the home series against New Zealand, Hardik is now reportedly in trouble with the customs department.

According to the customs law, a passenger can carry items/goods worth up to ₹50,000 as free allowance and won’t have to declare at customs. If a passenger is carrying items of a higher value, they must be declared at customs on arrival, and can attract duty of around 36%.

Interestingly, the Gujrat-born all-rounder has great enthusiasm for luxury watches and even owns some of the most expensive watches.

Pandya's watch collection includes the Patek Philippe Nautilus Platinum 5711 which costs upwards of ₹5 crore. Pandya joins a club of celebrities including actor-comedian Kevin Hart and rapper Drake, who own the super expensive watch.

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India to play a 3-match T20I series against New Zealand; Hardik Pandya not included in the squad

India v New Zealand - ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.

The New Zealand side will have to get over their recent loss at the T20 World Cup final against Australia quickly. They travel to India for a three-match T20I series that begins on Wednesday. This will then be followed by a two-match Test series.

The series will commence a new era for the hosts, playing under new coach Rahul Dravid and new T20I captain Rohit Sharma.

The opening match of the T20I series will be played in Jaipur on November 17 while Ranchi will be the host of the following encounter on November 19. The caravan will then move further east to Kolkata, where the third and final T20I will be played on November 20.

On November 9, BCCI announced a 16-member squad for the T20I series. Players like Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Varun Chakravarty were dropped from the Indian T20I set-up. This came after their substandard performance at the T20 World Cup 2021.

The key new additions aside from the squad that played the World Cup include Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel and Avesh Khan. Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal are also part of the squad.

India’s T20I squad:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj