Thursday, 20 February 2014
Cricket India forgets Praveen Kumar, swing bowler waiting for a call back
Who was the bowler that shouldered the responsibility of entire bowling attack when Zaheer Khan got injured and left India in deep troubles on their last tour to England? I hope everyone remembers him because Indian cricket has certainly forgotten him. His name is Praveen Kumar.
Praveen Kumar despite doing well at all levels, including international level, and picking up wickets of top order batsmen quite regularly by bamboozling them with his swing bowling has been out of reckoning for selection in squad for quite a long time now. This is so even when there is plenty of bemoaning going on regarding India's bowling.
Praveen Kumar is a prodigious swinger of a cricket ball and can make it talk at will. Not many batsmen around the world play swing bowling well. This is due to the fact that swing bowlers are a rare breed. Only seldom you'll see a swing bowler, capable of swinging ball both 'in' and 'out', burst on the seen. Wasim Akram in past and Praveen Kumar more in recent past are the ones who belong to this unique breed. There many be many fast bowlers and medium pace bowlers, but art of swinging the ball is mastered by very few only.
India is playing most of their cricket abroad this year where conditions will assist the swing bowlers. Particularly in upcoming tour of England, where Praveen Kumar did exceptionally well last time, will demand a quality swing bowler in the team. To his credit P Kumar did well in Australia as well, if one cast his mind back to VB series final where India beat Australia to achieve a rare success down-under. Next World Cup is also there and someone from heaven is whispering into my years- 'bring back Praveen Kumar'.
Lets look at the international record of Praveen Kumar.
In 68 ODIs, Praveen Kumar has taken 77 wickets at an average of 36.02 and economy rate of 5.13. Given that he bowls largely in 'powerplay' overs, the record is impressive. What these stats don't tell us is his ability to strike early and pick up early wickets. A wicket at start of innings by a bowlers also helps other bowlers to breathe a bit easy. It definitely makes Captain's job easy. This is the area of cricket where India is struggling at the moment. In South Africa, both Hashim Amla and 'Quinton de Kock' put a century opening stand almost every time resulting is South Africa putting up 300 plus totals which India struggled to chase and lost the series.
PK (nickname of Praveen Kumar) has been nursing a shoulder injury since the end of last IPL (Indian Premiere League), sixth edition, and played his last international game for India in Bangladesh, which also happened to be the last ODI in which Sachin Tendulkar played, good couple of years ago.
Praveen told us that he is fine now and ready to deliver his banana swingers. But the bad news for him is that he has remained 'unsold' in IPL7 auctions and with no domestic cricket left in this season, it is hard to see how he can stage a comeback into Indian side. Actually he might, if Indian bowlers continue to leak runs in upcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh and selectors make good use their 'recalling' power.
What is good to hear is the news that Praveen has become a lot calmer now then before. Earlier he used to burst into anger and even ended up 'abusing' opposition players; and, in fact, BCCI took disciplinary action against him to make him to realise that he needs to control his aggression if he needs to play first class cricket in India. Over the course of last 2 years Praveen has become a family man and busy parenting which has made him lot more 'sensible person' and one who is in control of his senses.
One never knows what future has in store for P Kumar as far as cricket goes but he will be hoping for the luck to swing back to his side, just like the balls swing back into opening batsmen when he delivers them.
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| Calmer Praveen Kumar looking to swing back into Indian team |
Praveen Kumar is a prodigious swinger of a cricket ball and can make it talk at will. Not many batsmen around the world play swing bowling well. This is due to the fact that swing bowlers are a rare breed. Only seldom you'll see a swing bowler, capable of swinging ball both 'in' and 'out', burst on the seen. Wasim Akram in past and Praveen Kumar more in recent past are the ones who belong to this unique breed. There many be many fast bowlers and medium pace bowlers, but art of swinging the ball is mastered by very few only.
India is playing most of their cricket abroad this year where conditions will assist the swing bowlers. Particularly in upcoming tour of England, where Praveen Kumar did exceptionally well last time, will demand a quality swing bowler in the team. To his credit P Kumar did well in Australia as well, if one cast his mind back to VB series final where India beat Australia to achieve a rare success down-under. Next World Cup is also there and someone from heaven is whispering into my years- 'bring back Praveen Kumar'.
Lets look at the international record of Praveen Kumar.
In 68 ODIs, Praveen Kumar has taken 77 wickets at an average of 36.02 and economy rate of 5.13. Given that he bowls largely in 'powerplay' overs, the record is impressive. What these stats don't tell us is his ability to strike early and pick up early wickets. A wicket at start of innings by a bowlers also helps other bowlers to breathe a bit easy. It definitely makes Captain's job easy. This is the area of cricket where India is struggling at the moment. In South Africa, both Hashim Amla and 'Quinton de Kock' put a century opening stand almost every time resulting is South Africa putting up 300 plus totals which India struggled to chase and lost the series.
PK (nickname of Praveen Kumar) has been nursing a shoulder injury since the end of last IPL (Indian Premiere League), sixth edition, and played his last international game for India in Bangladesh, which also happened to be the last ODI in which Sachin Tendulkar played, good couple of years ago.
Praveen told us that he is fine now and ready to deliver his banana swingers. But the bad news for him is that he has remained 'unsold' in IPL7 auctions and with no domestic cricket left in this season, it is hard to see how he can stage a comeback into Indian side. Actually he might, if Indian bowlers continue to leak runs in upcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh and selectors make good use their 'recalling' power.
What is good to hear is the news that Praveen has become a lot calmer now then before. Earlier he used to burst into anger and even ended up 'abusing' opposition players; and, in fact, BCCI took disciplinary action against him to make him to realise that he needs to control his aggression if he needs to play first class cricket in India. Over the course of last 2 years Praveen has become a family man and busy parenting which has made him lot more 'sensible person' and one who is in control of his senses.
One never knows what future has in store for P Kumar as far as cricket goes but he will be hoping for the luck to swing back to his side, just like the balls swing back into opening batsmen when he delivers them.
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You should his behavior and attitude in domestic cricket, you will get the answer why he is not in team.
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