Birthday special: Praveen Kumar – Top 3 performances in international cricket
Former India cricketer Praveen Kumar has majorly represented India in the ODIs. In comparison to the six Tests and 10 T20Is that he has played in his career, he has represented India in 68 ODIs between 2007-2012. Even though his cricketing career was short, he was quite outstanding with the ball and even succeeded in having his name engraved on the illustrious Lord’s honours board.
Praveen played his maiden ODI against Pakistan in Jaipur. Later, he was chosen for Australia’s 2008 Tri-Nation Series. He did well in this series and significantly aided India’s victory in the Tri-Series. After this series, he emerged as a key component of the Indian bowling attack, and from 2008 to 2010, he established himself as the team’s top bowler in ODIs.
As he turns 35, let us have a look at some of his best performances in international cricket-
3. 4/31 vs Sri Lanka, February 2008
Kumar registered his best bowling figures of 4/31 in the ODI format in 2008 against Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Bank Series. He stormed through the Sri Lankan batting lineup and picked up the crucial wickets of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, the then skipper, Chamara Silva, and Muthiah Muralitharan. His performance helped India chase the score quickly in the next innings and win the game.
2. 4/46 vs Australia, March 2008
Just a month after registering his best bowling figures, Praveen performed similar heroics while playing against the Australian side. When Australia was chasing the 259-run target set by India, Praveen disturbed their top-order by picking up Adam Gilchrist and skipper Ricky Ponting, before adding Michael Clarke and Brett Lee’s wicket under his name. Thanks to his heroics, India won the game by a small margin of nine runs.
1. 5/106 vs England, July 2011
Praveen bagged his maiden five-wicket haul can against England in July 2011, and added a huge feather to his cap. Having played just six Test matches, Praveen picked up the only five-wicket haul of his career and celebrated the achievement at The Lord’s. Though his efforts went in vain as India lost the Test match, Praveen posed as a threat to the English side and helped India put up a tough competition.
