Indian cricket witnessed a shift, with players from small cities making their mark at the highest level in the early 2000s. MS Dhoni was a notable example, and another such player was Praveen Kumar, hailing from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Despite coming from a non-cricketing background, Praveen became a household name in Indian cricket, known for his exceptional skills as a swing bowler and a useful batter.
However, despite being a talented cricketer, Praveen could only represent Team India in six Tests, 68 ODIs, and 10 T20Is between 2007 and 2012. He also played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kings XI Punjab (now PBKS), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL.
Well, there were reports of off-field issues, including rumors of a drinking problem behind his relatively short international career. Now, the former Indian cricketer has made a sensational claim regarding the image that has been built around him.
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Praveen Kumar said on The Lallantop: “When I was in the Indian team, seniors said 'drink nahi karna, yeh nahi karna, woh nahi karna' (Don't drink, don't do this, don't do that). The senior players said. Karte sab hai. Lekin wahi baat hai na ki badnaam kar dete hai 'PK toh drink karta hai'. Sab peete hai (Everybody does it but they tarnished me saying I drink'.”
On being asked if seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly gave him that advice, Praveen replied: “Nahi. Naam nahi lena chahta camera pe. Pata sabko hai kisne PK ko badnaam kiya. (I don't want to take the person's name. Everybody knows him).”
He signed off by saying, “Those who know me personally, they know how I am. A bad image of me has been created.”
Praveen had some notable performances, including 10 wickets in 4 matches during the 2008 CB Series in Australia and a match-winning spell against Australia in the final. Praveen Announced retirement from all forms of cricket in October 2018.
