Former India cricketer Praveen Kumar survives gruesome car accident - Reports
Former Indian pacer Praveen Kumar and his son reportedly met with a horrific car accident in Meerut on Tuesday, July 4. The duo is thankfully safe despite their vehicle being hit by a truck at high speed.
The accident took place when Kumar was returning from Pandav Nagar on Tuesday night, with their vehicle getting brutally damaged. People gathered soon at the spot and informed the police, who immediately arrested the alleged truck driver.
Praveen's career has been plagued by various injuries in the past. The struggles of Praveen Kumar with stress-related illness have been well documented, and the former pacer has worked to recover from that. He also reportedly attempted suicide once due to stress and attended counseling to rectify that stage in his life.
Praveen Kumar recently featured for the Chandigarh Champs in the Legends Cricket Trophy on March 2023, picking up five wickets in three games.
Praveen Kumar's cricketing career at a glance
Praveen Kumar was arguably India's pace spearhead in ODIs between 2008 and 2012, with the distinct ability to move the new ball in the air and off the deck. The Uttar Pradesh-born pacer debuted for India in the final match of the ODI series against Pakistan at Jaipur in November 2007.
His shining moment for Team India came in the following season when India achieved the improbable task of beating Australia down under in the Commonwealth Bank (CB) series in 2008.
Despite playing in only four games, Praveen Kumar picked up 10 wickets, including a four-wicket haul in the second of the best-of-three final series to help India clinch the title. The 36-year-old dismissed dangermen Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting in both the first and second final to rock the hosts in their batting essay.
The pacer picked up 21 wickets in 14 ODIs in 2008 and followed it up with 17 and 19 scalps in 2009 and 2010. Praveen Kumar was selected to the Indian squad for the 2011 World Cup at home but was later replaced by S Sreesanth, owing to injury.
Praveen Kumar made his Test debut upon return from injury after the World Cup and picked up 27 wickets in six Tests in 2011, including a five-wicket haul in the first Test of the England tour at Lord's.
However, the talented pacer did not feature in the Indian Test team since 2012 and played his last International game for India in a T20I against South Africa in March of that year.
Overall, Praveen, finished with 112 wickets for India across formats in 84 matches, with 38 of those scalps coming against Australia and England.
Praveen Kumar also played in the IPL for a decade from 2008 to 2017 and represented numerous franchises from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians, SunRisers Hyderabad, and Gujarat Lions. In 119 games, the medium-pacer picked up 90 wickets at an economy rate of 7.73 runs per over.
The new-ball specialist also enjoyed great success at the domestic level, picking up 267 first-class and 185 List-A wickets in a 14-year tenure with Uttar Pradesh.
Praveen Kumar entered politics by joining Samajwadi Party before the UP assembly in 2016.