Indian pacer Praveen Kumar announces retirement

Veteran seamer Praveen Kumar has decided to hang up his boots. Today he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. Hailing from Meerut, Praveen Kumar made his debut for the UP stateside during the 2005-06 Ranji season. Caching the eye of the selectors with 90 wickets in his first two first-class seasons, Praveen Kumar was fast-tracked into the national side. He eventually made his debut against Pakistan in an ODI in Jaipur in 2007.

Always known for prodigious swing movement, Praveen Kumar must consider himself unlucky not to have got more chances in the Test squad. With more than decent showings (he picked up 27 wickets in the six Tests he played), Praveen was unceremoniously neglected from the Test squad. But this didn't deter him from putting on exhilarating performances with the ball in ODIs. CB series 2008 will always be etched in the memory of cricket fans, and Praveen Kumar features as a central figure in it.

"I have decided to retire from cricket. The decision is not taken in haste, I gave a thought over it and I felt it was a right time to say goodbye to the sport which gave me so much. I want to thank my family, BCCI, UPCA, Rajeev (Shukla) sir for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dreams," Praveen told the Indian Express.

Also hailing from Meerut, incumbent new-ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has time and again thanked Praveen Kumar for mentoring him during his early days. Although of late Bhuvi has put in the hard yards to up his pace and develop different skills, initially he too was known to be a swing bowler. With both being in the same mould, Praveen Kumar mentored Bhuvi on aspects regarding swing bowling.

He last played for India in 2012 in a one-off T20 against South Africa. Until 2015 he was a regular in the IPL too, playing 119 matches. He slowly began to fade away though. His last match was in 2017 for Gujarat Lions against SRH.