While the trailer of Kangana Ranaut’s Panga has won praise, a section of the audience noticed that Pankaj Tripathi was conspicuously missing from it. After all, the senior actor was officially announced as a cast member of the sports drama. Now, it has been learnt that Tripathi had to exit the project early on due to date issues. A source from the production team informs, "Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari [director] was keen to have Pankaj sir on board. She had approached him to play a crucial character, and he, too, had given his nod. Pankaj sir was expected to join the team in the Bhopal schedule in February. However, he already had his plate full with Mirzapur 2, Kagaz, ’83, Ludo, Mimi and Kargil Girl. So, he decided to bow out of the movie."