Praveen claimed that he was not keen to join RCB for IPL 2008.
Speaking to Lallantop, Praveen claimed that he was not keen to join the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for IPL 2008 but his reluctance drew an extreme reaction from Lalit Modi.
Praveen further said he wanted to join Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) because of it being close to his hometown of Meerut. However, he ended up signing a paper from an RCB official which turned out to be a contract.
Praveen alleged that Lalit threatened to end his career when he approached the former IPL commissioner to tell him about his choice.
"I did not want to play for RCB because Bangalore was quite far away from my place, I didn't know English, and the food was not to my liking. Delhi is quite close to Meerut, which would have allowed me to travel to my home once in a while. However, there was a person who made me sign a paper. I did not know it was the contract. I told them I wanted to play for Delhi and not Bangalore. Lalit Modi called me and threatened to end my career," Praveen stated.
During the interview, Praveen Kumar also made a rather outrageous claim on the art of reverse swing, specifically in the context of former Pakistan fast bowlers.
While Praveen refrained from taking anyone’s name, he said that ball-tampering was a common practice employed to generate reverse swing, and this knowledge was widespread within cricketing circles.
“Everyone does a little bit. Pakistan bowlers do it a bit more. That is what I have heard. Now, there are cameras everywhere. Earlier, all used to do it. And everyone knows as well. They would scratch it from one side, but one must know how to use that skill, too. If I scratch the ball and give to someone, one must have the skills to reverse-swing it. One has to learn that,” he remarked.
Praveen Kumar represented India in 6 Tests, 68 ODIs and 10 T20Is, taking a total of 112 wickets. He played for as many as five franchises in the IPL from 2008 to 2017 and picked up 90 scalps from 119 matches.