Former Indian fast bowler Praveen Kumar has revealed about a senior player who tried to tarnish his name and malign him for his alcohol drinking habits during his time with national team.
Praveen Kumar made his debut for Team India in an ODI match against Pakistan in November 2007. He was regular member in India's playing XI until he fell out of favour in 2012 due to his inconsistency and drinking habits.
In a conversation with Lallantop, Praveen revealed that a senior player asked him to drink. He added that everyone in the Indian team used to drink alcohol. Not revealing the name of a senior player, the 40-year-old said that someone was trying to ruin his image in the team.
"When I joined the Indian team, a few senior players asked me to stop drinking and avoid a few other things. However, everyone consumed alcohol but still maligned my name" he said.
"While many senior players treated us youngsters very well, there was someone who spread negativity around my name. I don't want to name that person on camera, but everybody knows who ruined my image." Praveen added.
Praveen Kumar played his international match for Team India in a T20I against South Africa in March 2012. In 2018, he decided to retire from all formats.
Praveen Kumar opens up on not getting coaching role
After retiring from cricket, Praveen Kumar began to look for coaching role in domestic cricket and IPL. However, the candidature was turned down due to drinking habits.
Praveen Kumar said that he was expecting an IPL franchise would sign him as a bowling coach after his retirement in 2018. He revealed that Uttar Pradesh didn't want him as a coach because of his alcoholism.
"In 2018, I had expected that one of the IPL franchises would sign me as a bowling coach. Forget that, even my own Uttar Pradesh team did not call me to work with the Ranji team. The only reason they had was that I used to drink alcohol. But did I drink on the ground or open the bottle in the dressing room?"
Praveen Kumar last played IPL in 2017, where he represented Gujarat Lions. After IPL 2017 season, no franchises were interested to buy him at the auction, which led to his retirement from cricket.
