Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: When a career is hanging by a thread, it often takes more than talent to survive. It takes belief from someone who has seen it all. Glenn McGrath, a man who built his legacy on nagging length and pinpoint accuracy, became that pillar of strength for a young Praful Hinge, stepping in when a back injury threatened to end the dream before it truly began.It was a dream debut for Vidarbha and Sunrisers Hyderabad seamer Hinge in the Indian Premier League as he reduced the unbeaten Rajasthan Royals to 1/3 during their 217-run chase at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Hinge dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and debutant Lhuan-dre Pretorius in his first over. In his second over, he sent back Royals captain Riyan Parag. His spell read: 4-0-34-4.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Praful suffered a career-threatening back injury. When it looked like his career was over, he found help from Varun Aaron and Australian great Glenn McGrath.Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling coach Varun Aaron pumped his fists in the dugout as Hinge ran through the Rajasthan Royals top order. Aaron has plenty of reasons to celebrate Praful’s success, and so does the Hinge household.“Kisne kahaan sapne kabhi sach nahi hote (Who said dreams never come true?),” Prakash Hinge, father of Praful, told TimesofIndia.com from Nagpur.“Varun Aaron came like an angel in Praful’s career. Unhone to bahut injury dekha hai (Varun’s career has been marred by injuries). When Praful had a stress fracture, we all thought his cricket was over, but Varun took him under his wing and helped him recover. He literally hand-held him through that dark phase,” added Hinge senior, who retired a few months ago from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.After recovering from the injury, McGrath, Director of Coaching at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, invited him to Australia, where Praful trained for three weeks at Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.“Glenn McGrath, who was impressed by his line and length, took him to Brisbane. All the costs were taken care by the MRF Pace Foundation. We did not have to pay a single penny,” said Prakash Hinge.Former Vidarbha cricketer Ranjit Paradkar, who coached Praful at the U-16 and U-23 levels, said the talent was always there in the youngster.“It was all about the opportunity. After playing age-group cricket for your state, if you have not represented India U-19, you need someone to push you, and in Praful’s case it was Varun. The boy has also worked really hard. The stress fracture has made him a better bowler. I can see Varun has made a few technical tweaks in his run-up, a bit in his action and the follow-through. The beautiful thing is that Harsh Dubey, who was his captain during the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, is playing with him in the same franchise,” said Paradkar.Meanwhile, Prakash Hinge, who is attending calls and guests at his home in Nagpur, also credits his son’s stubbornness.“I was a government employee, and my daughter is a chartered accountant. For us, education was everything, but this boy, right from a young age, was crazy about cricket. Pure din gully cricket khelte rahna, majbur ho ke daalna pad gaya academy mey phir isne ground ko ghar bana liya (He would play gully cricket all day. We were forced to enroll him in an academy, and from then on, he made the ground his home),” said Hinge Sr, who now has no regrets about letting his son pursue cricket.
