Pravin Tambe

Pravin Vijay Tambe (born 8 October 1971) is an Indian cricketer who currently plays for Kolkata Knight Riders. Tambe made his IPL debut at the age of 41 and he is the oldest IPL player in history when Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils at Jaipur in May 2013. Currently Tambe captains the DY Patil Sports Academy B team in New Bombay. He became the oldest player ever to be sold in IPL at the age of 48 .

When he was young Pravin wanted to be a fast bowler but it was his Orient Shipping captain Ajay Kadam who asked him to bowl leg-spin. He was part of Shivaji Park Gymkhana team where his leg-spin impressed Sandeep Patil as well. "Sandeep Patil rated Pravin’s flipper highly," said Pravin's father Vijay in an interview with CricketCountry.

Pravin had an interesting twist to his life. A man who never played for his city, was elected for the Indian Premier League. "For someone who has not even got a chance to play first-class cricket and has worked hard allthese years in Dr HD Kanga Memorial Cricket League, it is terrific story" says Rahul Dravid, his chief mentor at Rajasthan Royals.

Former club-mate and Mumbai selector Abey Kuruvilla also revealed that Tambe has only peaked over the last 8 years, ever since he switched from bowling medium pace to leg spin. He received the Golden Wicket award (for taking most wickets in the tournament) in Champions League 2013.

He took a brilliant hat-trick against KKR on 5 May 2014 in Ahmedabad which earned him the man of the match award. He also got the purple cap for the first time in his career by becoming the highest wicket taker in IPL 2014 (till the 25th match).

In February 2017, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad team for the 2017 Indian Premier League for 10 lakhs. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.

Tambe (3/10) became the first bowler to complete 10 wickets (ave. 5.90) in four matches in the Champions League T20. Tambe is the first and only bowler to bowl 15 overs in the present competition without conceding a six. Tambe's economy rate of 3.93 is the best amongst the bowlers claiming five wickets or more in the present competition.

In season two of T10 League, Tambe played for Sindhis team. He became first ever player to take a hat-trick in 10 overs cricket format. He also became the first player to take 5 wicket haul in this format.

He received his maiden call for Mumbai cricket team squad in 2013–14 Ranji Trophy and made his debut in the next round vs Orissa cricket team. He made his List A debut for Mumbai in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 25 February 2017.

In July 2020, he was named in the Trinbago Knight Riders squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. He became the first Indian cricketer to get a contract in the Caribbean Premier League.

In August 2015, Tambe played in a private T20 tournament in the United States. He was member of a team that included Mohammad Ashraful who was serving a five-year ban imposed on him by the Bangladesh Cricket Board for connections in a fixing scandal during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League.