Remember the name! Praful Hinge. The Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer made the entire world take notice of him on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against the Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday. For the first time in 19 years of the T20 tournament, a bowler took three wickets in the opening over of a batting innings. And it was the 24-year-old pacer from Vidarbha. On his debut, Hinge dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood failed to stop Sooryavanshi, but Hinge took just one ball to execute the perfect plan and stop the 15-year-old in his tracks.
Hinge bowled a short delivery, and Sooryavanshi was beaten by pace. The top edge went straight up, and Salil Arora completed a simple catch behind the stumps. A few deliveries later, Hinge dismissed Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Both Rajasthan batters went for two-ball ducks. It is also worth mentioning that this was the first time that Sooryavanshi was dismissed for a golden duck in his short IPL career so far.
The pacer was slated to make his debut in the previous IPL 2026 match against the Punjab Kings. Ishan Kishan, the Sunrisers captain, also announced his name at the toss, but in the end, the management decided to go in with Jaydev Unadkat as the impact sub.
However, a game later, Hinge finally made his debut and what a first game it was for the tall pacer. Hinge became just the eighth bowler in the IPL to take four wickets inside the powerplay, joining the likes of Pat Cummins, Ishant Sharma, Shoaib Akhtar, Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Shami. Hinge finished with the figures of 4/34 and his performance helped SRH beat Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs.
Now, if you are wondering who Hinge is and where he comes from, we have you covered. Look no further!
All you need to know about Hinge
Hinge, a right-arm pacer, represents Vidarbha in state cricket and was picked up by SRH for INR 30 lakh. He had made his senior debut across formats in the 2024-25 season.
In the first 10 first-class matches he has played, Hinge picked up 27 wickets at an average of 26.66. In List A, he has scalped five wickets in six games. Before his IPL debut, Hinge had played just one T20 match, where he claimed one wicket. The only T20 match before his IPL debut saw Hinge opening the bowling alongside Varun Aaron, and he returned with figures of 1/23.
The pacer has also trained at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai since 2022 and also went to Brisbane for a 15-day camp in 2024. He comes from a really humble background, and his father works in the state electricity board.
He also trained with the former India pacer Varun Aaron at the MRF Pace Foundation. Coincidentally, Aaron is the current bowling coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the IPL 2026 season. Hinge has had his fair share of back injuries, and over the last few months he has been working closely with Aaron to improve his action and avoid breaking down.
