Praveen Kumar

Profile

Perhaps its Praveen Kumar’s dual ability to take wickets and restrict an outflow of runs that has made the UP-born bowler a regular in limited overs cricket for the Indian cricket team, since his debut in late 2007. Unlike teammates Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, Kumar’s forte is variation coupled with precision in line and length, depending purely on natural bowling speed than aiming to exert harder for additional pace.

Praveen’s career highlight would easily be two bowling spells with 4-fors Down Under against Sri Lanka and Australia, both in 2008, in merely his 3rd and 5th ODI outings. Tidy performances for Bangalore in the IPL added to his growing repute. As a dangerous pinch-hitter lower down the order, it’s a rare all-round combination once reminiscent in Robin Singh - Kumar’s forerunner in the all-rounder department. The latter, like Kumar now, was regarded as an ODI specialist. For the immediate future at least, that status quo doesn’t look like it will budge for Praveen Kumar but the UP lad will do all that he can to change that.

Fast Facts

• With 10 wickets in 4 matches in the Commonwealth Bank Series of 2007/08, Praveen Kumar had the best wickets-to-matches average for any bowler in the series.
• He was the first bowler to scalp a hat-trick in IPL 3, and overall, his was the seventh hat-trick of the IPL.
• Along with Englishman Liam Plunkett and New Zealander Kyle Mills, Praveen Kumar became the only other bowler to dismiss the dangerous Aussie trio of Gilchrist, Ponting and Clarke in a single ODI match.

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Career

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