IPL: Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta wants betting to be legalised

Preity Zinta, who is the co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab franchise, believes that betting should be legalised in the league and that will help the government curb the corruption surrounding the event.

The Indian Premier League and betting have an old relation with a number of controversies threatening the competition over the last eleven years. From S Sreesanth getting arrested on spot-fixing charges to Bollywood actor Arbaaz Khan admitting to losing Rs 2.80 crore, betting has been a sore issue for the extremely popular tournament. However, Preity Zinta has a solution for this specific problem.

Preity Zinta during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Delhi Daredevils.(BCCI)

Zinta, who is the co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab franchise, believes that betting should be legalised in the league and that will help the government curb the corruption surrounding the event. She also said that legalisation will open a new source of income and will also help in reducing the cases of illegal betting scandals. She also suggested that a lie detector test should be included in the IPL official policy to ensure that players refrain from such wrongdoings.

READ: Virat Kohli wants BCCI to allow wives to accompany players on full overseas tours

“I think it would be important if the government legalises betting because it will be a good source of revenue and stuff and secondly, we can stop all this crap because how many people can you control. So, that’s why I said let’s do a random lie detector test, BCCI should just make it part of the policy, it will be amazing. Because of the fear of knowing that I can get caught, that’s what you need. You can’t police people that much,” Zinta was quoted as saying by India Today.

“You think somebody can make an offer to me and still be alive, I would probably take him to the cops. Please understand I had just got out of movies. For 10 years I was living in a studio with cameras and characters that didn’t exist, so I was living in a La La Land. Suddenly I stepped out into a cricket stadium. Everybody was alien to me and to be honest, I didn’t know what was happening,” he added.