Former Team India pacer Praveen Kumar made a name for himself as a premium swing bowler. He was also a handy batter lower down the order.
Praveen played overall six Tests, 68 ODIs and 10 T20Is for the Indian team from 2007 to 2012. He also played for Indian Premier League (IPL) teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings Xi Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, Praveen’s international career was not long. As per reports, Praveen had some off-field issues. Some reports claimed that he had drinking issue. However, Praveen has now made a sensational claim regarding the image that has been built around him.
“When I was in the Indian team, seniors said ‘drink nahi karna, yeh nahi karna, woh nahi karna’ (Don’t drink, don’t do this, don’t do that). The senior players said. Karte sab hai. Lekin wahi baat hai na ki badnaam kar dete hai ‘PK toh drink karta hai’. Sab peete hai (Everybody does it but they tarnished me saying I drink’” said Praveen.
When asked if former great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly gave him that advice, the former pacer said, “Nahi. Naam nahi lena chahta camera pe. Pata sabko hai kisne. PK badnaam hai. (I don’t want to take the person’s name. Everybody knows him).”
“Those who know me personally, they know how I am. A bad image of me has been created,” he added.