Bollywood star and co-owner of Punjab Kings, Preity Zinta, has shot down rumors that she intentionally pursued Shreyas Iyer over Rishabh Pant during last year's IPL mega auction, labeling the claims as 'fake news.' An X user named Gurlabh Singh alleged that Zinta responded to Pant's previous remark about not wanting to join PBKS by referring to Pant as "a big name" and Iyer as "a big performer."

In the tweet, Singh mentioned, "Rishabh Pant said in an interview that he could go anywhere but not to Punjab Kings. But now, Punjab owner Preity Zinta has called out Rishabh Pant, stating, 'WE HAD BOTH RISHABH PANT AND SHREYAS IYER AS OPTIONS FOR THE TEAM. BUT WE WANTED A BIG PERFORMER, NOT JUST A BIG NAME...SO WE CHOSE SHREYAS IYER.'"

Zinta refuted the alleged derogatory comments about Pant, insisting they were untrue. "I’m sorry, but this is fake news," she responded.

The user chose not to respond to Zinta's 'fake news' remark but suggested that the PBKS owner should retaliate against Pant for his previous statements. "If Rishabh Pant can sit with Vikrant Gupta and Sanjiv Goenka on international TV and say whatever he wants about our Punjab Kings, then why can't we do the same?"

He added in his next two comments, "Sure, it’s frustrating, even if Rishabh Pant is one of our own, but he shouldn’t be making comments about Punjab Kings."

After being let go by Delhi Capitals, Pant, a highly sought-after player in the mega auction, was signed by LSG for a record ₹27 crore. Just days after the auction, Pant revealed that he had only one "tension" while watching the bidding, which was about Punjab Kings, clearly showing he didn’t want to join PBKS. "Deep down, I only had one worry, and that was about Punjab," Pant mentioned in an interview alongside LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka when discussing the auction.

PBKS didn’t even place a bid for Pant since they had just secured Shreyas Iyer for a staggering ₹26.75 crore moments earlier.

However, Pant's remarks didn’t sit well with PBKS fans. In fact, when PBKS triumphed over LSG in IPL 2025, their social media account took aim at Pant's comments, responding with a series of tweets. The word "tension" featured prominently in many of their posts, starting with Glenn Maxwell's quick dismissal of Pant.

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