A medium pacer with a largely side-on action, Kumar’s strength lies in his ability to swing the ball both ways even in Indian conditions. Kumar broke into the Indian side after an outstanding first couple of seasons for his Ranji team Uttar Pradesh. In 2005, his debut season, UP benefitted enormously from his all-round talent as Kumar took 41 wickets and scored 386 runs, including three half-centuries.

He was picked to represent India in ODIs in 2007 and immediately churned out some match-winning performances. Among these was the second final of the 2007-08 CB Series in Australia where his figures of 4/46 also fetched him the Player-of-the-Match award.

Since then, Praveen has been a regular in the India ODI squad though injuries have occasionally limited him to the sidelines.