Felt really bad after getting dropped from T20 World Cup squad: Yuzvendra Chahal

Hardik Pandya refutes 'rumours' of watch worth Rs 5 crore, says voluntarily declared items to customs

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has released a statement making a clarification regarding the rumours doing the rounds that the custom officials at Mumbai airport seizing his luxury watches worth Rs 5 crore. The right-hander in a statement said that he voluntarily declared all the items that had been lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid. “I had voluntarily declared all the items that I’d lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid. As a matter of fact, the customs department had asked for all the purchase documents which were submitted; however, customs is doing the valuation for duty which I’ve already confirmed to pay,” Pandya wrote in a statement issued on twitter. Hardik further added that the cost of the watches is “approximately Rs. 1.5 crore and not Rs. 5 crore as per the rumours floating around on social media”. The all-rounder was a part of the Indian team during the recently concluded T20 World Cup. Hardik scored a total of 69 runs in the three innings that he batted in for India. The Men in Blue bowed out of the tournament in the group stage itself and will now lock horns with New Zealand in the T20I series slated to begin on Wednesday in Jaipur.

The Ashes | Sir Ian Botham picks Marnus Labuschagne as 'cherry on the cake' for Australia

One of the best all-rounders to have ever played the game and the one who ruled the Ashes series in his prime, Sir Ian Botham has picked his Australian player to watch out for in the upcoming Ashes series. Botham called Marnus Labuschagne “cherry on the cake” for an already strong Australian side with batsmen such as Steve Smith and David Warner, whom he rated as a “threat” for the Joe Root-led England side. Botham said that Labuschagne’s competitiveness and attitude stand him apart from other players and rated him as Australia’s best player at the moment even ahead of the likes of Smith and Warner. Interestingly, Sir Botham also divulged his personal connection with Australia’s number three batsman and is looking forward to “sitting down and having a cold one with Labuschagne at some stage” and “watching him with interest” during the Ashes where he will be commentating on the games. Botham’s grandson and Labuschagne got along well while the right-hander was playing County Cricket for Glamorgan in Cardiff although he was late to pick it up that it was actually Marnus Labuschagne whom his grandson was hanging out with. “I think [Steve] Smith is going to have a big part, I think [David] Warner somewhere along the line is going to be a threat and, definitely, Labuschagne,” Botham said to the Sydney Morning Herald. “What I have seen of him has really impressed me. I like his attitude, his competitiveness. He could be the cherry on the cake for Australia.” “Labuschagne is probably your (Australia’s) best player at the moment. I have watched his career. He was obviously playing with Glamorgan in the county championship in the UK. “My grandson was also in Cardiff because he plays rugby for Cardiff and Wales. The two of them meet for a coffee, quite often. I didn’t realise this until I caught up with Labuschagne. The two of them get on very well, meet up for a coffee and a chat. They are both very competitive, that’s one thing for sure. That rubs off. I am going to watch him with interest in the series. The Ashes series is scheduled to start at Gabba on December 08.

ICC announces dates, venues for next T20 World Cup in Australia

The dates and venues of the next edition of the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia are out and the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground has been assigned the venue for the final of the tournament. The tournament is set to kick off on October 16 and the final is schooled to take place on November 13 at the MCG. The semi-finals of the tournament will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Adelaide Oval on November 9 and 10 respectively. The finalists of the just-concluded T20 World Cup—Australia and New Zealand along with the next top six ranked teams such as India, Pakistan, South Africa, England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh will constitute the eight teams of the Super 12 of the next tournament. The other four sides will come from round one of the tournament, where eight more sides will compete for four spots across two groups. Former champions West Indies and Sri Lanka will have to go through the round 1 qualification alongside Namibia and Scotland while the other four participants of the tournament will be decided by the qualifier tournaments scheduled to take place in Oman and Zimbabwe next year. ICC’s Head of Events, Chris Tetley expressed his delight at the return of the ICC event to Australia while announcing the hots cities and dates of the marquee event. “We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.”

Kane Williamson opts out T20I series against India to focus on Test series

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is set to miss the T20I series against India scheduled to start on November 17 in Jaipur. He has opted out of the three-match long series to focus on the Test series that will follow the T20Is. "With the opening game of the T20 series on Wednesday evening, followed by games on Friday and Sunday night - the decision was made for Williamson to join the Test specialist group already training in Jaipur as they focus on red-ball preparation," stated a media release. In his absence, Tim Southee will lead the Blackcaps against Team India led by Rohit Sharma. New Zealand are also without their middle-order batsman Devon Conway, who broke his hand in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup against England. New Zealand lost in the final of the T20 World Cup against Australia while India were knocked out of the global event in the Super 12 stage only.