Chandigarh, Oct 10: The management of the Kings XI Punjab today reacted sharply terming BCCI's decision to terminate the contract of Mohali franchise "unfair" while co-owner and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta said she was "shocked" at the development.
"KXIP strongly believes that this decision is unfair and not in the collaborative spirit which the IPL has operated in," KXIP said in a statement.
Shocked!, this was Zinta's reaction on the Mohali franchise's termination from the IPL "for violation of the franchise agreement."
"Still absorbing the news. After working so hard in the IPL and putting my everything building this team dis (this) is not what I expected! Shocked!," Zinta tweeted.
Zinta thanked the fans for support. "I know there is god up there and he is looking out for me," she said to her fans who wrote messages offering support to her.
The BCCI today unanimously decided to "terminate" the franchise agreements of KXIP and Rajasthan Royals, while sparing the newly-inducted Kochi.
The Kochi franchisee has been asked to resolve their internal disputes within 10 days.
"Kings XI hopes that the BCCI will engage in a productive dialogue to resolve all misunderstandings," its statement further said.
The Mohali-based franchise said it was "surprised and saddened by the BCCI's action."
"KXIP has been a loyal franchise since the inception of the IPL, at a time when there was no guarantee or visibility of the leagues' success," it said.
The franchise said it had received the formal communication from the BCCI which is now being studied by its legal team.
"We look forward to presenting the facts and answering any misunderstandings that the BCCI may have," it said.
"In the recent past, KXIP has fully co-operated with all Government and regulatory authorities as well as the BCCI in assisting them with their questions. KXIP reiterates that the company has followed all terms and conditions and has not violated any agreement," the KXIP further maintained.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab has been in the thick of controversies in recent times.
Earlier in April, the owners of KXIP had been slapped with notices by central and state excise departments asking them to pay over Rs 5 crore as service tax for IPL's 2008 edition and to furnish details of proceeds from ticket sales this year.
In July, a lower court here had issued bailable warrant against Zinta and two co-owners for allegedly not filing its balance sheet and annual returns, but the order had been later stayed by the Punjab and Haryana high court here.
A local court had earlier issued bailable warrants against franchise co-owners Zinta, Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman for failing to appear before it on a complaint filed by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) accusing them of not filing its balance sheets and annual returns.
Earlier this year, speculation had been rife that the dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh was keen to leave the KXIP though he had later denied such reports.
The Punjab player had been replaced as captain of KXIP by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara. The team also failed to put impressive performance in successive editions after making it to the semi-finals in the IPL's first edition. PTI
