Top 7 Indian Sultans of Swing: Exponents of a Mysterious Craft

#5 Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has fallen out of favour with the Indian national team but was deadly on his day

Praveen Kumar is known for three things – heart, swing and bad luck. Dhoni’s first choice new ball bowler missed out from the 2011 World Cup winning squad because of an injury.

The short-tempered fast bowler has a bag full of tricks like he showed in his 6 Tests, where he picked up 27 wickets at 25.81 before injury claimed him. Praveen, hailing from UP has 77 wickets from 68 ODIs. Time is still on his side and one would want him to deliver his familiar

Time is still on his side and one would want him to deliver his familiar new-ball deliveries, swinging in and moving out late. Unlike most fast bowlers, Praveen doesn’t yearn for pace, always bowling at around 125kph and still managing to make the batsmen hop around. His immaculate line and length combined with the prodigious swing both ways earned him the nickname of Jaadugar.

Remembered for his breathtaking spell in one of India’s greatest overseas tournament wins – 2007-08 CB series, Praveen rarely relied on the pitch to trouble batsmen. And why do you have to when you can swing any coloured ball under any conditions right from the first delivery!