Former fast bowler of Indian cricket team Praveen Kumar revealed that Royal Challengers Bangalore was not his first choice in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League and how his reluctance to join the franchise earned him an extreme reaction from Lalit Modi.
During an interaction, Praveen explained that he wanted to join Delhi Daredevils because it was close to his hometown of Meerut, but he signed a paper from an RCB official, which turned out to be a contract. When Praveen approached Lalit to tell him about his choice, the IPL commissioner threatened to end his career.
Praveen said in the interview that, "I did not want to play for RCB because Bangalore was quite far away from my place, I didn't know English, and the food was not to my liking. Delhi is quite close to Meerut, which would have allowed me to travel to my home once in a while. However, there was a person who made me sign a paper. I did not know it was the contract. I told them I wanted to play for Delhi and not Bangalore. Lalit Modi called me and threatened to end my career.”
Former Indian cricket team fast bowler Praveen Kumar said that ball-tampering used to be a common practice among players and added that Pakistan bowlers used to do it a bit more than others to boost their reverse swing.