17 Interesting Facts about Praveen Kumar – The journeyman of swing

17 Interesting Facts about Praveen Kumar – The journeyman of swing: India has never produced bowlers with quality pace comparable to the likes of former Pakistan, West Indies and Australian pacers. But it does not mean that it has a dearth of quality pace bowlers. What the pacers lacked in pace was compensated by some prodigal ability to swing the ball. Over the last few decades, quite a reasonable number of quality swing bowlers have come out of India and have made a huge impact in the international arena. Led by the likes of Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan many more bowlers who were talented did shine in the international arena, albeit for a shorter duration. And Praveen Kumar is one of the latter.

On his 29^TH birthday, here are some of the Interesting Facts about Praveen Kumar – The journeyman of swing:

Birth

Praveen Kumar was born on October 2^nd, 1986 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Dream debut first-class season

He had an incredible debut first-class season for Uttar Pradesh. With a tally of 41 wickets and 386 runs, he was easily the best player of the season. And he continued his form into his second Ranji season too. With 90 wickets in his first two Ranji seasons, it was just a matter of time before he had an international call.

Debut ODI

Praveen Kumar made his ODI debut against Pakistan in 2007. In spite of his form in Ranji Trophy, he was wicket-less and gave away 50 runs in his quota of 10 overs. But economy wise, he was the most economical amongst Indian bowlers.

Best bowling figures in ODIs

In his very 3^rd ODI, he picked up his first 4 wicket haul with figures of 4-31 against Sri Lanka in Hobart. Till date, it remains his best ever figures in an ODI.

CB series 2008 finals

Despite playing as a replacement of Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar was instrumental in India’s first ever series victory down under. He picked up 10 wickets in just 4 matches he played. Praveen Kumar was the man of the match in the 2^nd final, for his figures of 4 for 46.

T20i Debut

He made his T20 debut against Australia in 2008. India were hopelessly trashed by 9 wickets, and Kumar took the only wicket to fall for the Aussies.

Unsuccessful T20 World Cup campaign

He was part of India’s T20 World Cup campaign 2010 in West Indies. He played just 2 matches, one against Afghanistan and the other against SA, and took 2 wickets against the former. He was quite economical against both the teams, giving less than 6 RPO in both the matches.

Injury woes rule him out of WC 2011

Praveen Kumar was originally the part of the team which eventually went on to lift the cup. But he had an injury just before the World Cup, thus ruling him out of the tournament. He was replaced by Sreesanth.

Test Debut

After nearly 4 years in the ODI squad, Praveen Kumar eventually got a call-up into the test side against the West Indies. He had a good debut, taking 6 wickets in his debut test match.

First 5-fer

Praveen Kumar was one of the brighter spots in India’s disastrous tour of England in 2011. He took his first ever 5-fer in his first innings in England, which was incidently at Lord’s. That remains his sole 5-fer in his international career till now. He has played 6 tests till now, with the last of them played at Birmingham.

Injury woes and dip in form

Injury has been one of the primary obstacles of Praveen Kumar’s career; affecting his progress at crucial junctures. Also, with the subsequent rise of Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the primary swing bowler, Praveen Kumar has gone off the radar of the selectors.

Out of team           

He played his last ODI for India against Pakistan in 2012, and last international match against South Africa in 2012. Since then, he has been out of the team due to factors including poor form, lack of fitness and also, lack of discipline.

Decent Batsman

Though known primarily as an opening bowler, he was more than a handy batsman. He has a highest score of 54 in ODIs, and 40 in his short test career.

Controversies

He has been involved in quite a lot of controversies over the course of his career. In 2008, it was reportedly alleged that he trashed a doctor. He was involved with some sort of brawl with spectators in two different occasions, once in England and once in West Indies. And in 2013, he reportedly head-butted a player in a local corporate trophy, which made the umpire declare him as mentally unfit to play.

IPL career

He has been playing in IPL since its inception and has represented 4 different teams. Initially, he was picked by Royal Challengers Banglore and represented them for 3 seasons. From 2011 to 2013, he played for Kings XI Punjab. Though he was unsold in 2014 auctions, he was picked as a replacement for Zaheer Khan but was ruled out of the tournament after playing only 6 matches. In 2015, he was picked up by Sun Risers Hyderabad for a price of 2.2 crores. He has played 97 matches in IPL, in which he has picked up 75 wickets with best figures of 3/18.

First Class career

Praveen Kumar, despite his average international career, has been a best in the domestic arena. In 55 first class matches he has played, he has picked up 232 wickets at an outstanding average of 23. His best figures in an innings is 8/68 came against Delhi in the 2007-08 season. As a batsman, he averages about 23 and has a highest score of 98.

Major Teams

Major teams Praveen Kumar has played for include India, Air India, India Red, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai T20, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh.