'It was like Michael Jackson's red jacket in Thriller' - When Preity Zinta designed Kings XI Punjab jersey and players burst out laughing

Colour combinations and logos on playing kits have always been an integral part of any franchise. Out of many things, players’ apparel is one major factor which connects the franchise to its fans. Talking about the IPL, many franchises have been associated with a specific colour since the inception of the tournament.

Sports brands like Adidas, Nike and Puma have been known for designing fresh jerseys for IPL franchises every year. However, in a rare and hilarious instance in the early days of the IPL, Kings XI Punjab co-owner and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta had decided to design the jersey by her own, which later turned into a fiasco.

Neil Maxwell, the one-time chief executive officer of Kings XI Punjab, recalled the hilarious incident when Preity took the charge of arranging the kits for players ahead of their inaugural IPL match. Speaking on the Top Order Podcast, Maxwell revealed that the franchise owners were naive in the inaugural season of the IPL and that led to the birth of such ideas.

“I remember going in to try and cut a deal with Adidas or Reebok at the time, and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, who I’ve got to say was one of the more intelligent [owners] and she learned quickly about cricket and how it operated… but at the time, there was just the naivety. She just said, ‘No, we’re not going with those uniform companies. I’m taking care of the players’ costumes,” recalled Maxwell.

Brett Lee also took a dig at the ‘costume’

“I knew we were in trouble when that word came out. But I said: Preity, we can just sign up with a sports apparel provider, and we’ll get it done and dusted, the competition starts in two weeks. We need to have uniforms.”

“Anyway, [she said], ‘No, no, no Neil, I’ve sent someone to Taiwan, we’ve got the material coming, and I’ve got a prototype arriving in seven days.’ I’ll never forget the day the prototype arrived. We were literally six days out from the competition, she pulled it out of the shopping bag, in front of… I think it was Brett Lee, Yuvraj Singh and Sangakkara. She was so proud of these shirts, she pulled it out,” added Maxwell.

However, the Kings XI Punjab players burst out laughing after seeing the apparel. Maxwell compared the kit with the red leather jackets which Michael Jackson wore in his song ‘Thriller’. After looking at the kit, Brett Lee also took a dig at Zinta and said that how would he get his arm over to bowl in that kit.

Maxwell further said, “And I’m not joking if you remember Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the red leather jackets that he wore [it was like that]. It had shoulder patches and zippers on it, the material… the boys were playing in 47-degree heat, and it was thicker than a suit. It had reflector stripes, the kind you wear on the road!”

“The boys burst out laughing, and she was so insulted. I remember Brett saying, ‘Preity, look it’s fine. We’ve just got to work out one thing’. She said, ‘What’s that?’ And he goes, ‘just got to work out how to get my arm over to bowl a ball!’.

“Anyway, she threw it on the ground and stormed off, and we had four-five days to get the uniform sorted,” concluded Maxwell.