Bollywood actor and Kings XI Punjab co-owner, Preity Zinta, had a heated argument with mentor Virender Sehwag after Kings XI Punjab lost their Indian Premier League (IPL) outing to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on Tuesday, May 8.
Sehwag was at the receiving end of "vitriolic verbal barrage" from Zinta, who had reached the Sawai Mansingh Stadium dressing room even before the players came back from the field, according to Mumbai Mirror.
Zinta was "upset" over the result and blamed Sehwag for "unnecessary" tinkering with the playing XI in the last few matches and the batting order during their 15-run defeat to the Royals. KXIP's recent form — three defeats in their last four games — has also not gone down well with the popular actress, the report states.
Notably, KXIP, on Tuesday, made two changes to the playing XI that had crushed the Royals by six wickets on Sunday, May 6.
Also, in an unexpected, move skipper R Ashwin was sent into bat at number three in a modest chase of 159 in Jaipur. The move backfired as the all-rounder was dismissed for a duck, following which the middle order collapsed.
Sehwag was questioned for the Ashwin move and the former India captain initially played it cool, a source revealed, according to the report.
"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.
IBTimes India was not able to independently verify the claims. We are waiting for an update from a source close to the team.
Meanwhile, Mirror report added that Sehwag has chosen not to comment on the incident as he feels it would affect the team morale, especially when KXIP are in with a good chance to make the playoffs. The Punjab-based franchise is sitting at the third spot with six wins from 10 games, six points behind table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, co-owner Mohit Burman played the down the incident and insisted there is no problem with the management and the coaching staff, the report adds.
Nonetheless, Preity was involved in a similar incident last year when she lashed out at the then coach Sanjay Bangar after KXIP's close defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
She launched into Bangar at the team dugout and reportedly even used expletives in front of junior players and other support staff.
Notably, Sehwag insisted the team owners make sure Preity doesn't interfere with his job as the mentor of the team.
"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," a franchise source told the Mirror.
