Customs authorities confiscated Pandya's watch collection

Following the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, Hardik Pandya, who has not had the best of on-field fortunes in recent years, found himself in trouble off the field. Cricket news was only covering him when customs officials confiscated two expensive watches (worth a total of INR 5 crore) upon his arrival in India from the United Arab Emirates.

The story that caught the attention of fans across the globe, what next for the all-rounder?

According to an ABP Live report on Google cricket, the incident occurred late on November 14 night, as the team members returned to their respective homes. Pandya was stopped by customs officers, who eventually detained both watches because he had failed to report them as customs products or to have the receipts for either of them.

Pandya is an ardent watch collector who has amassed a collection that includes some of the rarest and most known brands in the world, including the Patek Phillippe Nautilus Platinum 5711. According to a story in GQIndia, the 5711 is set with “32 baguette-cut emeralds, all of which are factory set.” The watch is totally forged in platinum, with both the 40mm case and integrated band fashioned of the most exotic of metals. The limited-edition sculpture is also “reserved for the most discriminating buyers.”

Meanwhile, it is said that Pandya’s case, which was assessed to be of a non-recurring nature by DRI officers, has been sent to the Airport Customs.

Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of India’s home Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand.

Between November 17 and December 7, the Indian squad will welcome the T20 World Cup runner-up New Zealand for three Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests in their home country. The 16-man team for the three Twenty20 Internationals, which was declared earlier this week by the Chetan Sharma-led national selectors committee, did not include Pandya.

While the committee could not provide a precise explanation for his absence, several stories claim that he was denied participation due to physical fitness difficulties. Pandya has been sidelined from bowling due to a recurring back injury for the better part of this year.

He only bowled twice in five games in the T20 World Cup in 2021, when India’s campaign ended in the Super12s after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand at the outset, putting their prospects of winning the tournament in jeopardy right from the start. Despite the three straight wins that followed, the team was defeated by New Zealand in the qualifying race for the World Championships in their group.

Pandya has been going through a rough spell with the willow recently.. He was out of sorts at the Indian Premier League and was unable to turn things around for the T20 World Cup in 2021. He was unable to provide any additional benefits with the ball as well. KL Rahul, on the other hand, believes that Pandya is a sharp player who understands precisely what he has to accomplish.

“To be quite honest, I have no idea whether or not that has occurred. He is well aware of what he is responsible for and what is expected of him. He is intelligent enough to comprehend this,” KL Rahul remarked in a virtual press conference with reporters.

The Mumbai Indians’ star needs to turn things around and fast

Things are not going well at present for the all-rounder. He did not have a great IPL 2021 and had a mixed bag at the T20 World Cup. The teams did not perform as a unit in both tournaments and the struggles were quite real.

Every player has a bad or tough phase and this seems to be just it for Pandya. With the mega-auction coming up soon, the player will want to impress whenever he can. He could get a few more opportunities due to his reputation and a couple of new teams coming up.

Despite that if he does not grab them with both hands and perform, his career could be side-lined and before he knows it, done for good. It will be interesting to see how the controversial star now responds to this and what he produces on the pitch when he is fully fit and ready to go.