Praveen Kumar starts new spell as politician after joining Samajwadi Party

Lucknow: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, cricketer Praveen Kumar on Sunday joined the Samajwadi Party. “I have met CM and decided to join the party. I will do whatever is possible for the party,” he told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is also state president of the Samajwadi Party. [caption id=“attachment_2999998” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Praveen Kumar last played for India in a one-off T20I against South Africa in 2012. AFP[/caption] Asked whether he would contest the state assembly polls, Praveen said, “I am a kid in this field. As of now I will try to learn it (politics).” Heaping praise on Yadav, Praveen, who hails from Meerut, said, he has done a lot for sportsmen and big stadiums are under construction at Lucknow and Saifai. Besides sports, the right-arm medium-pace bowler said, the chief minister has done a lot of work for all round development of the state. Kumar, who plays for Uttar Pradesh cricket team in first class cricket, has been a part of the Indian cricket team in six test matches and 68 One-Day Internationals (ODI), where he has to his credit, 27 and 77 wickets respectively. Praveen was last seen in action in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he took nine wickets from 16 games for tournament debutants Gujarat Lions. His last appearance for India was in the one-off T20I against South Africa in March 2012.