Punjab Kings' co-owner and Bollywood actor Preity Zinta has clarified that the media reports of the movie star being ready to 'bet her life' to get India skipper Rohit Sharma as captain of her franchise are "fake". (Full Coverage)
In a post on X, Zinta posted a few pictures of such media reports and clarified that she has never made any statement regarding Sharma and never discussed the former Mumbai Indians captain in any interview.
"#Fakenews! All these articles are completely fake & baseless. I hold Rohit Sharma in very high regard & am a big fan of his, but I have NEVER DISCUSSED him in any interview nor made this STATEMENT !" the Bollywood actor wrote on X.
The quote went viral ahead of PBKS-MI match on Thursday which Zinta's team lost by 9 runs.
She further said that since the current PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan is out of action due to an injury, such news articles "appear in very poor taste."
"I also have a lot of respect for Shikhar Dhawan & he being currently injured , makes these articles appear in very poor taste. These articles are a perfect example of how misinformation is picked up without any verification & circulated online."
"I humbly request all Media to refrain from circulating this & embarrassing all concerned parties," she added.
Zinta went on to say that she has a great team in the IPL this season.
"All I want to say is that we have a great team currently & our only focus is to win games & make the most out of #IPL2024 Thank you."
Earlier this season, there were media reports that claimed that Sharma, a five-time IPL winning captain, is unhappy with MI management and he might leave the franchise at the end of this season.
Reports of rift in the MI camp have been rife since Sharma was replaced by Hardik Pandya, who was traded in from Gujarat Titans ahead of this season, as the captain of the franchise.
Pandya's performance and his captaincy have both been in the firing line and fans have consistently booed the Indian all-rounder this season.