Liam Livingstone sledged by SCG crowd for not being in India with England team: WATCH

England batsman Liam Livingstone had a brilliant Big Bash League 2020-21 campaign. The right-hander was instrumental in helping the Perth Scorchers reach the final of the competition. After a string of poor performances in the initial phase of the tournament, Livingstone got a move on and put in impressive performances for the Scorchers.

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Liam Livingstone reveals how SCG crowd took jibe at him for not being in India with England team

Despite playing exceptionally well in the competition, the Englishman had to bear the brunt of the SCG crowd while playing the BBL 2021 final. While fielding during the final, Livingstone was speaking to the commentators where he revealed how he was being sledged by the SCG crowd. The commentator asked him what was his side's discussion on the pitch as it was coming out pretty well.

In response, Livingstone said that he has spent the whole time on the boundary so he hasn’t spoken to anyone. The commentators further asked him about the chatter from the SCG crowd. To which Livingstone admitted that he was being abused a little. The England international sportingly revealed that he was told by the SCG crowd that if he was any good he’d be in India which he quipped was a fair point.

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The England side is currently in India for a long tour which comprises four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs. They are currently competing in the first Test that got underway on Friday, February 5 in Chennai. The visitors are currently in the driver's seat as they have reduced India to 336/9 after scoring 578 in the first innings.

Meanwhile, Livingstone top-scored (45) for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL 2021 final while chasing a target of 189. However, his effort wasn't enough as the Scorchers fell short by 27 runs and the Sydney Sixers were crowned BBL 2021 winners. Livingstone has also played in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals in 2019 where he scored 71 runs in 4 matches at a strike-rate of 147.91. He was subsequently released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2020 after which he decided to pull out from IPL 2020 auction to focus on county cricket.

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RR list of released players 2021

Rajasthan Royals made the most significant change in their squad ahead of the auction as they announced that it has released captain Steve Smith. While the reason is unknown yet, it has been speculated that the ouster might be due to the Australian's poor performance in the previous edition where the team finished last on the points table. The franchise announced that Sanju Samson would lead the side in 2021 and also roped in former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as the team's Director of Cricket. 

RR list of retained players 2021: 

Sanju Samson (Captain), Manan Vohra, David Miller, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Robin Uthappa, Anuj Rawat, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Karik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Andrew Tye

RR list of released players 2021:

• Steve Smith 
• Remaining Purse: Rs 34.85 crores

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SOURCE: LIAM LIVINGSTONE INSTAGRAM