Mumbai: Actor Sonu Sood on Thursday said he and his team provided food and rehabilitation to 28,000 people living close to the coastal lines when Cyclone Nisarga made its way to Mumbai.

The cyclone spared India's financial capital, which is already reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic, after it made landfall near adjoining Alibaug on Wednesday.

Sood, who has been arranging transport facilities for migrant workers to return to their home safely amid the pandemic, said they have moved the people to municipality schools and colleges for safety.

Today, all of us are facing tough times and the best way to fight this is by being each other's strongest support system. My team and I have distributed food to over 28,000 people from the coastal areas across Mumbai and rehabilitated them in various schools and colleges. We are making sure all of them are safe, Sood said in a statement here.

The actor has also helped over 200 migrants from Assam, who were homeless and stranded in Mumbai due to Cyclone Nisarga. After the migrants reached out to Sood on Twitter, he made arrangements for their stay and food, the release said.

The Assamese migrants have been moved to shelter homes where they will be staying until they're sent home, it said.

Cyclone Nisarga is now a depression over west Vidarbha region in Maharashtra and will weaken further, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

The cyclone had hit the coastal districts of Maharashtra from Arabian Sea with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph) on Wednesday afternoon. Mumbai was on edge as it braced for the cyclone after a gap of 72 years.

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Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.

“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.

Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.

“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”

The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.

On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.

Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.

“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.

Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.

“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”

Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.