By Hindustan Times
On Sunday Preity Zinta laid to rest speculations that she is bailing out of IPL season five by turning up on the Sahara Stadium in Pune within the team’s colours. The dimples flashed even if Kings XI Punjab surrendered tamely to Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors. “I’m not a quitter!” the actor
asserts. “This have been my baby since its inception and I’d only bail out if things went terribly wrong.”
A lot has gone wrong for the Mohali-based franchise within the last year. Following the talk between the BCCI and Lalit Modi, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals were expelled from the league over financial irregularities. The owners moved court and got a stay at the injunction, whereby they were allowed to participate within the auction and play by providing a safety of $18 million. But Kings XI Punjab still owes players about Rs28 crore for Season four and in a High Court petition against the BCCI, has given an undertaking that it'll pay once the BCCI clears its dues of Rs22 crore from Season three.
“It’s been tedious and heart-wrenching. The dialogue with BCCI continues. On the auction, the economics changed and we started off at a drawback since we needed to pay double,” she sighs. “We couldn’t bid for a dozen extra players, but we got those we would have liked. For us it’s not such a lot about buying players as building a team. We've got young talent and despite some unforeseen injuries, we’re hoping they arrive together under Gilly (captain Adam Gilchrist).”
Pointing out that during the past, teams strong on paper was out-played by those without stars, as she reasons that T20 is set great leadership and synergy. “Gilly is an incredible team player and i've my hopes pinned on him. This can be a crucial year for us,” admits Preity.
Her former captain, Yuvraj Singh, has just returned home after successfully battling cancer. She says, “Yuvi is a fighter and that i hope to look him return to the sphere soon.”
Will we see her at the field too? She admits she won’t be there for the entire games now that she’s acting and producing a film, Ishkq In Paris. “I didn’t expect my film to clash with the IPL, but now we have a large schedule in India in about 10 days. There are a few other surprises in store,” she says. “After three-and-a-half years of claiming I don’t do shows, I went on stage on Sunday. There’s lots happening, I’m back to doing everything.”
