Former Indian premier bowler Praveen Kumar’s exploits against Australia in 2008 led the side to seal the Tri-series for the first time in history. Praveen, in the recent interaction, has given the insight about how he lopped off Australia’s three batting mainstay.
Because of Sachin Tendulkar’s 91, India gave a fighting target of 258 runs, but this could have been below-par against the then invincible Australian team.
However, Praveen Kumar ran through the host’s top order. After he picked the prized wickets of Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, Australia was trembling at 32. At last, India won the match by nine runs.
The former speedster reveals that he closely watched the feet and noticed the body language of batsmen to bowl accordingly.
“Let me tell you, I could catch a batsman by watching his feet and body language. That moment (Brisbane, 2008) I was just putting on display the art that I have.
“You see most things about bowling are simple. I was not thinking about anything. My bowling style dictated the areas I have to pitch and I was watching the wicket and bowling,” Praveen Kumar told IANS.
Praveen Kumar reveals his strategy for every wicket:
He explains that the thought behind plotting the former Australian wicket-keeper, who was playing his last and 287th ODI, was to pitch the ball up. Gilchrist poked at a delivery that moved away. Aussies were one down for two.
“Gilchrist paidal tha upar waali ball par’ (Gilchrist was vulnerable to the ball that used to be pitched up),” he explains.
For Ricky Ponting’s wicket, he decided to get his wicket through his famous shot, i.e., pull shot.
“Ponting, they used to say, he pulls the ball well. So I said, ‘isko pull par hi nikaalna hai’ (let us catch him on the pull),” he says before explaining the simple logic.”
Praveen Kumar admitted that he was lucky to get the third wicket that was of Michael Clarke. But the most wicket he cherished was of Adam Gilchrist.
“‘Maine ball dabaai aur wo baith gayee’ (I pushed the ball on the pitch and it didn’t rise and went on at a very low trajectory). I got a bit lucky there. The pitch helped me on that one. But I am proud of the way I got Gilchrist. When a bowler uses his hands (art) and brain, he can bowl even if he has just gotten up from sleep.
“You will naturally catch the good length if you have it in you. By God’s grace, I had practiced so much that even if I could get up from my sleep, I could step out and bowl,” Parveen Kumar maintained.
Praveen Kumar was the prominent bowler for India from 2008-10, but he faded away after World Cup 2011. The reason for his decline was his indisciplined behaviour.