File photo of Praveen Kumar.
Former India cricketer Praveen Kumar is celebrating his 35th birthday today. Praveen was known for his impressive ability to swing the ball and had the tenacity to bowl long spells.
Praveen became the sixth bowler to take a hat-trick in the Indian Premier League. Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he achieved this feat in the third edition of the season, during the match against Rajasthan Royals.
Kumar accomplished this feat in the 17th over of the match by dismissing Damien Martin (19), Sumit Narwal (0), and Paras Dogra (3) in three consecutive deliveries.
He made his ODI debut against Pakistan in Jaipur. He was later selected for the 2008 Tri-Nation Series in Australia. Kumar performed well in this series and made an important contribution to India’s Tri-Series triumph.
After this series, he became an important part of the Indian bowling attack and he established himself as the leading bowler for India in ODIs from 2008 to 2010.
Due to his outstanding performances, he also got a place in India’s World Cup team but due to a shoulder injury, he was forced to take his name back from the team.
After being constantly ignored by selectors, Praveen announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018
Kumar played a total of 84 matches in his international career spanning 5 years. He played 6 Tests, 67 ODIs and 10 T20s and took 27,77 and 8 wickets respectively