"If you can hit the ball clean and can bowl sharp, you know your cricket," he had summed up in an interview while playing for the Team Hyderabad in the IPL.
Praveen Kumar is not someone in the mould of Symonds, but the India and Team Punjab seamer shares a similar idea about his game. One of the best new-ball bowlers in the Indian squad, Praveen doesn't like to differentiate between playing Tests, one-dayers or T20. "If you know where you want to pitch the ball and have your technique right, you can play any format seamlessly," Praveen told TOI on the eve of Punjab's IPL opener against hosts Team Jaipur, on Friday.
Praveen will shoulder the responsibility of opening the new-ball attack for Punjab with either James Faulkner or Ryan Harris. To enjoy an economy of just eight runs per over (7.50 to be precise) in IPL is noteworthy and Praveen is up for the challenge yet again.
"I enjoy bowling in all formats of cricket. In Tests you have to be persistent with line and length and it's somewhat the same in one-day cricket too. In T20, the only challenge is to out think the batsmen, who are after you from the first ball. Minor changes do the trick, but when you are getting hit consistently despite your best efforts, it's better to do something different than your best delivery," he said.
Praveen's feels the credit for his success in the IPL with Punjab should go to captain and coach Adam Gilchrist. "Adam Gilchrist is an excellent captain. He allows me to think and work out my strategy against batsmen. He's always ideating and his skill to assess match situations is amazing," he said.
Indian players, who fared badly in England and Australia, are under the scanner before the upcoming home series against New Zealand (Aug-Sep 2012), England (Nov 2012-Jan 2013) and Australia (Feb-March 2013). Praveen, who formed the bulwark of the Indian pace attack in Zaheer Khan's absence in England, however, said: "There's no pressure on us (Indian players). We'll play our natural games and everyone would want to enjoy the IPL as it brings entertainment and presents a tough challenge."
Team India and Punjab bowling coach, Joe Dawes, considers Praveen a work in progress and the UP bowler himself acknowledged working on his "technique and strength" with the former Aussie pacer.
Unlike his Punjab teammates, Praveen is not looking too far ahead in IPL 5. "This year I want Punjab to do better but I won't set any targets for myself or for the team. I will take each game at a time. To put a target means putting pressure on yourself. I want everyone in the team to enjoy their game. If that is done, the result will take care of itself," Praveen observed on match eve.
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