KXIP co-owner Preity Zinta shocked by reports of match-fixing claims

New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta on Wednesday blasted media reports that she had accused several players of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team of match fixing.

A section of the media had reported on Wednesday that the former Bollywood actress had told Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials during an IPL working group meeting on August 8 that some players from Kings XI Punjab may have indulged in "suspicious activities" linked to throwing matches.

According to the report, Zinta had also said that she had felt at times that some IPL matches involving her team had followed a pre-decided pattern and alleged that the BCCI's anti-corruption team has not been able to effectively tackle the match fixing issue.

Apart from various IPL stakeholders, the meeting was attended by all four members of the working group IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary and former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Later in the day however, Zinta issued a strong denial, saying that her conversation with BCCI officials was misreported and vehemently condemned the report in a series of posts on social media platform Twitter.

"Shocked by this inaccurate & extremely irresponsible & malicious piece by @IndianExpress.
"This piece of article is completely false, libel per say, inaccurate and an irresponsible piece of," she posted on her Twitter handle. "Stop spreading rubbish without verification."
"I suggested random polygraph ( lie detector) tests to BCCI for players so no can even think about match fixing," she added. "The theory being that 'prevention is better than cure'. Of course @IndianExpress @abpnewshindi @abpnewstv had to twist & change the story."

"A constructive conversation to genuinely make a difference to the game is turned into a destructive article for sensational purpose."

The IPL has been rocked by spot-fixing and betting scandals. Justice RM Lodha Committee had recently suspended former champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajashtan Royals (RR) after their owner/official were found guilty of betting on matches.

(IANS)