'Lalit Modi called me and threatened to end my career': Ex-India bowler Praveen Kumar makes shocking allegations

Former India bowler Praveen Kumar has made shocking allegations against the first-ever IPL chairman Lalit Modi.

In an interview, Praveen Kumar has revealed that Lalit Modi called him and threatened to end his career over joining an IPL team in 2008.

Praveen Kumar represented Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season of IPL in 2008. But the pacer says RCB was not his first-choice and he was tricked into playing for the franchise.

During an interview with Lallantop, Kumar said he signed a piece of paper which turned out to be the IPL contract. The player was reluctant to play for RCB due to the language barrier and food issues, and instead wanted to represent Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). But then IPL chairman Lalit Modi personally threatened to end his career and forced him to play for the Royal Challengers.

"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," Praveen Kumar said in that interview.

The Meerut-born bowler played for three seasons with RCB with a seasonal salary of Rs. 1.20 crore. He then joined Punjab Kings and also played for the likes of Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Praveen's final IPL appearance came for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions back in 2017. The 37-year-old played 119 IPL matches and has 90 wickets to his name.