Preity Zinta-Virender Sehwag involved in verbal spat after RR loss
KXIP principal owner Preity Zinta and chief mentor Virender Sehwag had gotten in to a argument, according to media reports, after the team lost to Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
In Short
- Kings XI Punjab succumbed to a 6-wicket loss at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday
- KXIP currently find themselves sitting in third position of the 2018 IPL points table
- Zinta had an altercation with Sehwag after the loss, with her questioning some of the team's "tactics"
Kings XI Punjab succumbed to a 6-wicket loss at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday, after the Ravichandran Ashwin-led side failed to chase down the modest total of 159.
KXIP currently find themselves sitting in third position of the 2018 IPL points table and with four games to go for, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders slowly creeping up on them.
But trouble is brewing closer home, with media reports suggesting there might be falling out between KXIP co-owner Preity Zinta and team mentor Virender Sehwag.
According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, sources close to the Punjab team said that Zinta had an altercation with Sehwag after the loss, with the Bollywood actress questioning some of the team's "tactics".
"Against Rajasthan Royals, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin was sent in at number three, ahead of more accomplished batsmen such as Karun Nair and Manoj Tiwari. The move backfired as Ashwin fell for a duck, and Preity launched into Sehwag for the decision," said the source.
Sehwag tried reasoning with her initially, but "however, when Preity continued to blame him, saying 'unnecessary' tinkering with the playing XI had led to a spate of defeats, Sehwag tried to reason with her," the source said.
As for the 'bone of contention', Ashwin's decision to bat at No. 3, the off-spinner had already answered that question at the post-match presentation.
Also read - Aswhin explains his bizarre decision to bat at No.3
"It was pretty evident that the wicket would get tougher and tougher. We wanted to attack in the powerplay, get ahead of the game and take it from there. Me coming up the order was an experiment, we were planning it in the last game as well," he had said after the end of the match.
According to same report, this isn't the first time the two have come to loggerheads, with a source claiming that, "Viru had told the other owners to rein in Preity. He told the owners that he'll not comment on Preity's acting chops and she should refrain from talking about his cricketing acumen".
Sehwag has refused to comment on the issue as he does not want his players to lose focus especially with almost having one foot in the playoffs.