Praveen Kumar joins Samajwadi Party, Akhikesh Kumar present at event

Cricketer Praveen Kumar has joined Samajwadi Party. Kumar is a right-hand medium-pace bowler. 

He joined the party which is in power in Uttar Pradesh in the presence of CM Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, as per OneIndia report. The 29-year-old is from Meerut. 

 According to sources, Kumar may contest the assembly polls from Meerut. He was playing for Gujarat Lions in IPL 9. He last played for India in a T20 match against South Africa in 2012.

 Born into a family of wrestlers, he joined the Uttar Pradesh under-19 team with Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, RP Singh and Piyush Chawla in 2000. 

The turning point in Kumar's career was his first Ranji season, when he took 41 wickets and scored 368 runs. His consistency - 90 wickets in two first-class seasons - earned him a call-up to the India A squad touring Kenya in 2007. He has not represented India since 2012 in any of the three formats. 

Some stats from his career:

Test: 27 wickets in 6 matches

ODI: 77 wickets in 68 matches

T20I: 8 wickets in 10 matches