 India unearth a new star in Praveen Kumar
5th Mar 2008 23:00 IST
Agencies
Praveen's triple strike early on gave India a leg up as he gave India a rousing start when he saw off the dangerous Adam Gilchrist off the third ball of the innings. Gilchrist edged one back to Dhoni.
In the very next over Praveen got rid of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who was caught by Yuvraj Singh at mid-on. That had Australia struggling at 8/2.
Michael Clarke tried to steady the innings with Hayden, but Praveen soon broke through his defence. Australia tottered at 32/3.
However, it was not always so smooth and fruitful an experience in his debut ODI.
Praveen started his international career in the fifth and final match of the ODI series against Pakistan in November 2007. With India having won the series, the ODI was a dead rubber. Praveen went wicketless giving away 50 runs in 10 overs. Pakistan put up 306 and won the match by 31 runs.
Praveen is useful with the bat too. His impressive record in domestic cricket screamed for attention.
Beginning his career in the Uttar Pradesh Under-19 team alongside Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla and Suresh Raina, he slowly graduated to first-class level and made a stunning start on his Ranji Trophy debut, picking up nine wickets against Haryana.
Praveen was also a key performer in Uttar Pradesh's maiden Ranji title in 2005, his first season. He claimed 41 wickets and scored 368 runs. His 90 wickets in two first-class seasons earned him a call-up to the India A squad touring Kenya in 2007.
Praveen excelled with both the bat and ball in a triangular one-day tournament involving India A, Sri Lanka A and Kenya, winning the man-of-the-series award.
He continued his fine run in the Challenger Trophy, when he received his maiden call-up to the national squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan.
In 25 first class matches - before the second Tri-Series final against Australia - Praveen has claimed 126 wickets at an average of 21.50. He also has 945 runs to his credit with five 50s under his belt.
Another good Ranji Trophy series earned him a spot in India's 16-man squad for the Tri-Series in Australia. And the rest, as they say, is history. |
