When Preity Zinta allegedly threatened to sack coach Sanjay Bangar in front of Kings XI Punjab players during IPL 2016
Throwback to the story when Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) co-owner Preity Zinta allegedly intimidated then coach Sanjay Bangar during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016. Bangar is currently the head of cricket development for the Kings.
Bangar, who served as an assistant coach initially in the 2014 season, was promoted to the head coach role in the same season. His efforts bore fruits, as Punjab finished as the runner-up, their best-ever performance in the cash-rich league.
The former Indian batter continued to work with the franchise in the same capacity until 2016. However, to comply with conflict of interest, he had to leave the role after he was announced as the batting coach of the national team.
Meanwhile, as per Mumbai Mirror's report dated May 12, 2016, Preity was angry after Punjab faced a one-run loss against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their home game in Mohali. She allegedly threatened to sack Bangar in the presence of support staff and the players.
The witness to the story confirmed to the newspaper that the Bollywood actress used F-word repeatedly during her tirade. She reportedly did not like the idea of Farhaan Behardien coming ahead of Axar Patel and put the blame on Bangar for the team's loss.
“It was a long monologue with a four-letter being used liberally. Everybody was stunned as Preity repeatedly threatened to sack Sanjay. Nobody spoke a word. Sanjay cut a sorry figure which was sad because he was surrounded by young players and support staff he is supposed to lead. It was rather unbecoming of the team owner,” said a source who was witness to the incident.
Preity Zinta's Punjab lost by one run against RCB in IPL 2016
The Kings XI Punjab won the toss and invited the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to bat. Virat Kohli (20) and KL Rahul (42) provided a good start to RCB, while AB de Villiers (62) continued the team's momentum by slamming 64 off 35 balls. In the end, Sachin Baby contributed 33 to help Bengaluru post 175. KC Cariappa and Sandeep Sharma took two wickets each for Punjab.
In response, Hashim Amla (21) and Wriddhiman Saha (16) supported well, as Murali Vijay's sensational knock of 89 off 57 kept Punjab in the hunt.
With 37 needed off the last three overs, Farhaan Behardien came to partner Marcus Stoinis. However, the Protea batter could only contribute 9* off 7, which irked Preity Zinta, who thought bringing in Axar Patel would have been a better idea.
Stoinis remained unbeaten on 34 off 22, as Punjab lost the game by just one run. Shane Watson picked up two wickets for the RCB side.