According to reports, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta was involved in an ugly verbal spat with mentor Virender Sehwag after the team’s loss against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Reportedly, the decision to send Ravinchandran Ashwin up the order didn’t go down well with the co-owner as the skipper was dismissed for a duck on just the second ball that he faced.
“Against Rajasthan Royals, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin was sent in at number three, ahead of more accomplished batsmen such as Karun Nair and Manoj Tiwari. The move backfired as Ashwin fell for a duck, and Preity launched into Sehwag for the decision,” a source was quoted as saying.
“However, when Preity continued to blame him, saying ‘unnecessary’ tinkering with the playing XI had led to a spate of defeats, Sehwag tried to reason with her,” he added.
This didn’t go down well with the legendary India opener.
“Sehwag had told the other owners to rein in Preity. He told the owners that he’ll not comment on Preity’s acting chops and she should refrain from talking about his cricketing acumen,” the source was quoted as saying.
Overall, Kings XI Punjab have been one of the stand-outs team in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich league and have won six out of their opening 10 matches thus far.
