Praveen Kumar in action (Courtesy: @praveenkumar/Twitter)

Former India fast bowler Praveen Kumar opened up on his early interaction with the senior members of the national team. In 2007, when the Meerut bowler made his debut for the national team, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, and Harbhajan Singh were a part of the squad. And one of the senior members advised him against consuming alcohol.

“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) Praveen Kumar said on The Lallantop.

When questioned if Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly were among the members who advised him to do so, Praveen replied: “Nahi. Naam nahi lena chahta camera pe. Pata sabko hai kisne PK badnaam hai. (I don”t want to take the person”s name. Everybody knows him)”.

Praveen was a revelation in swing bowling. He had limited pace but his ability to swing both ways, persistence to bowl long spells, and intuitive knowledge made him a reliable bowler. The 37-year-old is well-known for the match-winning spell he bowled against Australia in the 2007-08 CB Series.

He international career spanned from 2007 to 2012. During this time, he learnt that, every bowler scratched the ball a bit to produce reverse swing, especially the Pakistan bowlers.

“Everyone does a little bit. But, Pakistan bowlers do it a bit more. They would scratch it from one side, but one must know how to use that skill, too. If I scratch the ball and give it to someone, one must have the skills to reverse-swing it. One has to learn that,” Praveen said.