Praveen Kumar Ready To Turn A New Leaf

Few would disagree that Praveen Kumar was the one who brought back the venomous effect of swing bowling back in the Indian bowling sphere. His stint with the Indian team has, however, been interspersed with injuries.

That hasn’t affected his morale, stresses Praveen. “I won’t say that I contain been unlucky with injuries. Only the elbow injury had worried me for a while. Although I have missed a lot of big tournaments like the World Cup because of injuries, I don’t have any regrets,” Praveen told Mail Today on Monday.

Althoughthe 26- year- old paceman has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons, he’s ready to move on and give his best in the upcoming Indian Premier League. He also said that the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy is a perfect open pad for the IPL. “For the moment, I am looking forward to the IPL and am working hard to make sure Kings XI Punjab do well in the tournament. I am presently playing in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and am bowling in the right areas. It is absolutely a good preparation ahead of the IPL,” he said.

On Kings XI Punjab’s prospects, Praveen said so as to he was looking forward to work under new coach Darren Lehmann, who was the coach of the erstwhile Deccan Chargers. He also said that although momentum is key in a rivalry like IPL, they have to take one match at a time.

“I have heard a lot of positive things about Darren Lehmann from the Hyderabad players and am excited to play under him. We did well last year and only just missed a playoff berth. In the IPL, we have to take one match at a time,” he said.

The Deodhar Trophy in Guwahati saw a overabundance of former India players like Gautam Gambhir, Munaf Patel and Dinesh Karthik taking fraction in the limited overs tournament. And Praveen did his reputation no harm by bagging the wicket of Gambhir and bowling a stingy spell, which included two wickets at the cost of 28 runs in seven overs.

Praveen is, however, not overtly concerned at his lengthy absence from the international scene, “My job is to perform and I know I will be rewarded if I keep drama well at the domestic level. Personally, I have always enjoyed live at every level, be it domestic, international or Twenty 20,” he said.