Punjab Kings (PBKS) and co-owner Preity Zinta on May 12 hit back at media people for alleged ‘fake stories and misinformation’ about their players amid losing streak in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The franchise urged people against spreading unverified information for ‘cheap engagement’ on social media. One of those stories was their wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh allegedly putting on weight during the season. While Prabhsimran took to social media to share a shirtless photo of himself with a ‘shush’ emoji, their assistant bowling coach, Trevor Gonsalves assured that the team remains focused on the task in hand, to qualify for playoffs.
“Yes, today social media plays a big role (and) the news (in media) plays a big role. How the big players handle themselves against all these things is absolutely important,” Gonsalves said on the eve of PBKS’ match against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dharamsala.
The former Vidarbha pacer said that players don’t need to be taught how they present themselves on social media.
“You don't need anyone to teach them, first of all. They are big enough. They know how to control themselves. As far as we are concerned, we are more concerned about the cricketing part,” he said.
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Gonsalves also said that the team remains unperturbed by social media chatter and the main concern is the game against MI.
“Any blogger or any person can go and put up anything on the social media and there are lakhs of people agreeing to it and saying yes or no,” the 53-year-old said.
“But, frankly speaking, we are not too concerned about what the social media says. Now, at present, we are only concerned and worried of tomorrow's game (and) how we are moving forward in the cricketing part,” he added.
PBKS in need to end losing streak
After an unbeaten run, dominating teams left and right, PBKS have suffered four losses on the trot. As the playoffs race has intensified, PBKS are not guaranteed a berth. They are currently placed fourth on the points table with 13 points. They need two wins in remaining three games to book a spot in playoffs. If they lose two games and win one, their playoffs spot will be dependent on results of other games.