Preity Zinta

Rohit Sharma gets eye-catching mention from Preity Zinta days after quashing fake news about wanting him as PBKS captain

Danijones8 months ago05 mins

A little over two weeks after Preity Zinta dismissed reports of wanting Rohit Sharma as captain of the Punjab Kings, the PBKS owner took to social media platform X to describe the former Mumbai Indians skipper. Taking questions from her fans, Zinta called Rohit ‘a powerhouse of talent’, indicating that if she ever were to seek him as leader of PBKS, it wouldn’t be a bad call after all. Preity Zinta had nothing but praise for Rohit Sharma (Agencies) Rohit, captain of the Indian team, is a bonafide legend of Indian cricket. The only batter in history to score three ODI double-centuries and a winner of six Indian Premier League titles, Rohit has taken Indian cricket to great heights and then some since taking over as captain. In the IPL, despite being tied with MS Dhoni for the most trophies – five – Rohit is the most successful captain for winning them in a span of 10 years. A proven behemoth of modern-day cricket, one can’t help but wonder if there can even be a more perfect term to sum up Rohit than how Zinta described him. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! Speculations are rife about Rohit’s future at MI. In December, the franchise removed him as captain and replaced him with the returning Hardik Pandya. And as it turned out, the move has backfired immensely. MI are languishing at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table and on the verge of being the first team officially get eliminated from the race to the Playoffs. Rohit’s own form has been a bit of a letdown as well. With 326 runs from 11 matches, including a century, Rohit has an average of 32.6 and a strike rate of 154.5. While he may be set to better his previous season, Rohit is still not on par with the standard he has set for himself and cricket fans all over the world. When asked if she would entertain having MS Dhoni aboard Punjab Kings, Zinta also spoke about her love and admiration towards the CSK captain. Reflecting on Sunday’s game, the actor revealed she underwent a bittersweet emotion as PBKS emerged second best in the return match-up. “Everyone wants him, and everyone is his fan, including me. Yesterday was bittersweet. I wanted us to win and him to hit some big sixes, but we lost, and he got out. The only bright spot was that our bowlers did so well in restricting them, but eventually, it was not enough,” she added. Zinta’s PBKS is one of the original eight franchises to have never won an IPL title – Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru being the other two. In 16 years, PBKS have qualified for the Playoffs just twice, with their best show coming in 2015, where they finished runner-up to Kolkata Knight Riders. The wait to land an elusive IPL title can be painstakingly long, but Zinta manages to keep her spirits high. “Trust me, no one wants to know that more than I do, but I believe we will win it one day… Hopefully sooner than later,” she wrote.

Preity Zinta goes from elation to heartbreak as Hetmyer clobbers 6, 2, 6 to crush PBKS hopes in last-over thriller | Cricket

Danijones8 months ago05 mins

Celebrations had begun among the Punjab Kings spectators at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, in Chandigarh, with franchise co-owner Preity Zinta, who was present at the venue, leading the proceedings. The Bollywood actress was elated as stand-in skipper Sam Curran picked two wickets in his penultimate over of the match to send Rajasthan Royals seven down before the start of the final over. However, Zinta’s celebrations were cut short in a span of just five deliveries as Shimron Hetmyer clobbered two sixes in three balls to crush PBKS’ hopes in the thriller. Preity Zinta’s reaction changes in a span of five deliveries as PBKS lose thriller against RR Rajasthan were always the firm favourites in the run chase despite Ashutosh Sharma, who came in as an Impact Player at No. 8, smashing 31 off just 16 balls to take the team’s total close to 150. In response, the visitors never lost a wicket in the powerplay, but managed only 38 runs in that phase with Tanush Kotian, primarily a tailender who was promoted as an opener, visibly struggling with the bat. Unlock exclusive access to the story of India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Rajasthan managed to get the asking rate under check after Kotian’s dismissal in the ninth over before Kagiso Rabada picked two quick wickets to help Punjab fight back valiantly. Rajasthan was never allowed to settle in therafter as wickets kept tumbling at both ends, leaving the table-toppers with 33 to chase in the last 16 balls, with five wickets in hand. Hetmyer and Rovman Powell then smashed 18 runs in four balls to reduce the equation to 12 off 10 before Curran struck in the 19th over with two wickets, leaving Zinta ecstatic. And she looked confident that her team would claim a third win in the ongoing season as Arshdeep Singh geared up for the final over against Hetmyer. The left-armer raised Zinta’s hopes after bowling two back-to-back yorkers for no run, but the celebrations ended after Hetmyer shimmied down the track to clobber the half-volley for a flat six over long-on. A fumble from Curran in the deep, handed Hetmyer to sneak two runs on the next ball before the West Indies batter whipped the high full toss over fine leg for a six in the penultimate ball of the over to get RR past the finish line. Zinta was left tensed before that last ball was bowled and later heartbroken as PBKS incurred their fourth loss in the ongoing season, which left them eighth in the points table. “The wicket was slightly slow, but we didn’t start well with the bat and didn’t finish well in the end. It was a good effort from the lower order, getting (close) to 150 was excellent, the bowling was good, we kept them down, unfortunately another close loss. We stuck to our plans, bowled and fielded well, but I’m confident we’ll bounce back in the next game,” Curran said after the match.