Preity Zinta may sell pie in Kings XI Punjab team

A day after the two new teams in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League were sold for over Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) each, the owners of Kings XI Punjab are understood to have entered into discussions to sell their stake in the team.

According to sources, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, owners of KXIP, are looking at offloading their stake in the team for $200 million (Rs 920 crore) to a clutch of investors.

The team was bought by Zinta, Wadia and their business partner, Mohit Burmani, for $76 million (Rs 350 crore at the exchange rate of Rs 46 per dollar) in the first season of IPL in 2008.

However, the management of KXIP said it had no news of any such deal.

"These are mere speculation. In the past, too, there have been rumours of stake sale which turned out to be untrue. The owners have not informed us whether they are selling their stake in the team. We cannot respond to these speculations," said Anil Srivatsa, CEO of KXIP.

Board of Control for Cricket in India officials said Zinta or Wadia might be talking to people for selling their stakes; however, the IPL Governing Council had not been informed.

"These are private deals and the IPL Governing Council does not interfere in such matters. Only when the deal is finalised are the team owners obligated to inform the Governing Council," said Rajiv Shukla, chairman, media and finance committee, BCCI.