Preity Zinta and Rishabh Pant. | (Image Credits: X)
Punjab Kings (PBKS) co-owner Preity Zinta rubbished a fan’s claims as he wrote on X how the Bollywood actress ‘exposed’ Rishabh Pant and picked ‘performer’ Shreyas Iyer over ‘big name’. The 50-year-old strongly refuted those claims and wrote in bold letters on X, ‘I’m so sorry but this is FAKE NEWS !’
Pant (₹27 crore) and Iyer (₹26.75) were two of the costliest players in the IPL 2025 auction, shattering records as Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings pouched them, respectively. However, Pant’s performances have come under criticism as his only good performance in the edition has been the 49-ball 63 against the Chennai Super Kings, including two ducks. By contrast, Iyer-led PBKS are currently 2nd in the points table and the right-hander has amassed 257 runs in IPL 2025.
Meanwhile, an X user claimed the below that prompted Preity Zinta to label it as fake news:
“Rishabh Pant had said in an interview that I could go anywhere but not to Punjab Kings. But now Punjab owner Preity Zinta exposed Rishabh Pant and said, “WE HAD BOTH RISHABH PANT AND SHREYAS IYER- OPTIONS WE COULD HAVE TAKEN IN THE TEAM. BUT WE WANTED A BIG PERFORMER, NOT A BIG NAME…SO WE TOOK SHREYAS IYER IN THE TEAM”.
