Lucknow: For every wicket he took in Brisbane, crackers were burst in Meerut.

Allrounder Praveen Kumar’s house in the Sabun area on Bagpat Road became the destination of youngsters since morning. And in the evening, when India won by nine wickets, the crowd roared in jubilation.

“We cannot express our joy. People are rejoicing … The celebrations are likely to continue till late this evening”, said Vinay Kumar Singh, Praveen’s brother from Meerut. “It was a very good performance from Praveen, something not only I, but the entire nation had been waiting for a long time,” he added.

When Praveen delivered the first blows by dismissing Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, cheers and songs of Chak De India rent the air.

“Praveen had already become a hero here with these wickets, but there were more to come,” said Chiku Srivastava, one of his friends.

Born into a family of wrestlers, Praveen turned to cricket. He proved himself gradually in the last couple of years.

He joined the Uttar Pradesh under-19 team with Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, R.P. Singh and Piyush Chawla in 2000.

The turning point in Praveen’s career was his first Ranji season, when he took 41 wickets and scoring 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.