Praveen Kumar: An insight into a roller-coaster cricketing career

A player who was a match-winner with his ability to swing the ball both ways, Praveen Kumar's journey in cricket has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. He came into the limelight with some terrific performances overseas. But, his career was cut-short and marred by controversies regarding his temperament on the field.

First Breakthrough

The Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia 2008 could well be considered as a path-breaking victory for the Indian ODI cricket team. The selectors had decided to let youngsters take the stride forward without the intervention of the senior players that included the likes of Ganguly, Dravid.

Sure, it was a decision not welcomed by many and some people went on record stating that Dhoni wanted to take full control of the team by removing the seniors. Yet, young blood flowed right in and brought success as well as respect overseas for Team India.

Praveen Kumar was made part of a bowling attack that looked bleak without its spearhead Zaheer Khan who was suffering from a heel injury and sent back to India. The Indian bowling attack comprised of praveen kumar along with RP Singh and Sreesanth.

Praveen Kumar responded by taking 10 wickets in the tournament, with 4 scalps coming in the all-important 2nd final against Australia. He proved to be a very useful player in the ODIs as he can bowl during the initial overs as well as at the death overs.

Anger issues

Right from his debut in the international arena, Praveen Kumar has been the guy who gives it right back at one's face. He was vocal in his approach towards the game and that caused tremors on and off the field. He was known to have had a street fight with a doctor in his home-town and he was infamously involved in a verbal spat with batsman Ajitesh Argal during the BCCI sponsored Corporate Trophy in 2013.

The match referee termed Praveen Kumar as "mentally unfit" to play the game that prompted BCCI to suspend him.

Praveen kumar having a heated argument with David Warner during the Indian Premier League.

Injuries

Like every other bowler, Praveen Kumar suffered a lot of injuries during his stint as a cricketer and had to be sidelined by the selectors for so many series, including the 2011 World Cup. Even though he played in Ranji trophy and in the IPL after recovery, he never got a call from the national side to represent his country.

Retirement

Having been outside of national team for so long, it was expected of Praveen Kumar to retire from the game. His injuries supported by his on-field anger made his career short-lived.

One can safely say that injuries and his behaviour devastated his career but the real question is "Did BCCI do anything to make life easy for people suffering from anger issues?". Because these are the players who can exceed the expectations if their anger is channelized properly.

A similar issue happened with Jesse Ryder, a New-Zealand cricketer, who was suffering from drinking and anger issues. He was allowed to travel with his man-counsellor all around the world while he was playing.

It can be really hard for players in India to deal with issues relating to personality as physical and mental problems are considered differently by so many people in this country.

Personality development sessions are made mandatory by the BCCI in the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore. Unfortunately, it was not given importance during Praveen Kumar's playing days. Things might have been at least a bit different had this been implemented way before.

A cricketer who played from the heart and someone who always spoke his mind, Praveen Kumar's contribution to this sport has to continue as his understanding on various aspects of bowling should be passed on to the youngsters who aspire to play for India.