Former India pacer Praveen Kumar in an explosive conversation has spilled beans on his image as an alcoholic and why he could never get a job in cricket again. Kumar, who was one of the most talented Indian bowlers on the scene in the early 2010s, last played for India in 2012 and in the IPL in 2017. Kumar opened up on his bad image and that people know that only he drinks but claimed that everyone did but only his name became famous, rather infamous.
Speaking on the Lallantop Youtube channel, Kumar said, "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 only I drink)."
Kumar then elaborated saying that his name was intentionally tarnished and a bad image was created without taking any names. When asked who did it, Kumar said, "Nahi. Naam nahi lena chahta camera pe. Pata sabko hai kisne PK ko badnaam kiya hai (I don't want to take the person's name. Everybody knows who has tarnished my image).
"Those who know me personally, they know how I am. A bad image of me has been created," he added.
Kumar, who has a hat-trick to his name while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2010, went on to play for the likes of Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions, which was his final assignment in the league in 2017. Kumar suggested that a franchise had offered him the bowling coach role in 2018 but that didn't work out and even his home team UP didn't include him in the support staff because of that image.
"Ranji Trophy mein mujhe nahi bulaya ki PK bacchon ko kuch bata de. Ki haan 'yeh to drink karta hai'. Bhai, ground pe drink thodi na karta hun main ya dressing room mein botal khol li maine (Uttar Pradesh didn't call me to guide the youngsters in the Ranji Trophy because 'PK drinks'. Brother, do I drink on the ground or did I open a bottle in the dressing room?)"
Kumar was one of the biggest names among the players whose career could have been very different if not for injuries and off-field issues. Kumar ended up taking 112 wickets across three formats for India having played 68 ODIs, six Tests and 10 T20Is.
