Preity Zinta co-owned Punjab Kings (PBKS) made the second-costliest buy of the IPL 2025 mega-auction by snaring Shreyas Iyer for Rs 26.75 crore. They had a mega purse of Rs 110.5 crore and had the option of spending heavily on a couple of players. They spent a huge sum on Iyer, who captained Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win in IPL 2024.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) surpassed PBKS and made the costliest bid in the IPL 2025 mega-auction by signing Rishabh Pant for Rs 27 crore. A couple of months after the auction, Rishabh took a sly dig at PBKS and hinted that he didn't want to join the franchise.

"I only had one tension, that was Punjab (laughs). They had the highest purse. When Shreyas went to Punjab, I felt I could make it to LSG. There was a possibility. But eventually, with auction you never know, so I just thought I would wait and watch, and had my fingers crossed," he told Star Sports.

While Rishabh has excelled on the captaincy front, he has struggled with the bat. Amid Rishabh's below-par run with the bat, a fake quote of Zinta hitting back at the LSG captain went viral on X. The PBKS co-owner clarified that she didn't make any such comment.

"WE HAD BOTH RISHABH PANT AND SHREYAS IYER- OPTIONS WE COULD HAVE TAKEN IN THE TEAM. BUT WE WANTED A BIG PERFORMER, NOT A BIG NAME...SO WE TOOK SHREYAS IYER IN THE TEAM," the post claimed. "I’m so sorry but this is FAKE NEWS !" Zinta responded.

Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS have excelled in the IPL 2025 season and registered 5 wins from 7 matches. They are at the third spot in the points table. LSG have 4 wins from 7 matches and are placed at the fifth spot.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world.