Kings XI Punjab have made an official statement on the Preity Zinta-Sanjay Bangar controversy a day after the co-owner took to her official Facebook account to deny such allegations.
Earlier, several media reports had claimed that Zinta had had a verbal spat with coach Bangar after the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 9, with the Indian actress directing a “rant laden with expletives and threats of sacking” at the KXIP coach. Punjab had lost the match by one run, and Zinta had reportedly been unhappy about the coach’s decision to send in Farhaan Behardien ahead of Axar Patel.
The statement also refuted claims by certain sections of the Indian media about Shaun Marsh being sent home not due to an injury but because of a brawl in the dressing room. The Australian left-hander had actually suffered an injury earlier this month that had ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.
“In the recent week, there have been speculative stories in the media pertaining to Kings XI Punjab team members – its coach, CEO and promoters. The franchise takes strong objection to these stories as they are baseless and smack of malicious intent,” the statement read.
Denying the reports on Marsh, it said, “Shaun Marsh had to leave due to a back injury which meant he could not play the rest of the tournament. The team, coach, CEO and management are focused on the rest of the games and remain a strong, united unit with full backing of the Promoters.”
Kings XI have got themselves dragged into controversies off the field at a time when their lacklustre performances on it find them languishing at the bottom of the points table with virtually non-existent hopes of making it to the play-offs.
Kings XI Punjab all-rounder, Glenn Maxwell took to Twitter to clear the air:
1/2 Hahaha just saw a report that @shaunmarsh9 was sent home because of a brawl with a kxip teammate, not because of injury...
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) May 13, 2016
2/2 the poor bloke was in agony in the field last game he played, and then this rubbish comes out! #absolutegarbage #indianjournalism #lies
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) May 13, 2016
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) May 13, 2016
