The co-owner of Punjab Kings Preity Zinta has dismissed media claims suggesting that she would go to any extent to acquire the services of former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma for her team. Reports had surfaced, showing that Zinta was prepared to place a significant bid to secure Sharma for Punjab Kings. However, Zinta has denied these rumors, stating that there is no truth to such reports and all the claims are baseless.
“If Rohit Sharma enters the mega auction, I will bid for him. We are missing a captain in our team who can bring stability and a champion mindset,” claimed the media. Ahead of Punjab’s match against Mumbai, the media was like wildfire, leading to widespread debate and speculation. However, Zinta clarified that she did not say a word and said the reports were false.
Taking to social media platform X, Zinta wrote, “Fake news. These articles are completely baseless and without any foundation. I have immense respect for Rohit Sharma and am a big fan of his, but I have neither spoken about him nor made any such statement in any interview. I have great respect for Shikhar Dhawan, and these articles, especially considering Shikhar’s recent injury, are highly distasteful.”
Zinta’s statement highlights the prevalence of misinformation in online media and the need for verification. He appealed to the media not to publish these rumours, so as not to embarrass those involved. Zinta concluded his words by emphasizing that his team is focused on performing well in the IPL 2024 regular season and does not intend to participate in the tournament.
Turning to the Punjab vs. Mumbai match held on April 18, Thursday, Mumbai emerged victorious by nine runs. Mumbai posted a total of 192 runs while batting first, with Punjab falling short at 183 runs in response. In this match, Punjab’s captain Sam Curran opened the innings, while Liam Livingstone batted at number four. Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh expressed dissatisfaction with the batting order, criticizing the decision to send Curran to open and then replace him with Livingstone, who typically plays as a finisher.
Harbhajan praised Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for their excellent batting performance in the match and suggested that management should have sent them up the order as they were in good form.
