Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: When Ishan Kishan tossed the new ball to debutant Praful Hinge, few could have imagined what would follow. The 24-year-old right-arm pacer produced a sensational opening over, ripping through Rajasthan Royals’ top order and turning the game on its head within minutes.Hinge dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius — all for ducks — in a fiery spell that left RR reeling. It was the first time in IPL history that a bowler had taken three wickets in the very first over of an innings.There have been 32 instances of bowlers striking twice in the opening over, but never three. The only previous such effort for Sunrisers Hyderabad was by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who picked up two wickets against the same opposition at the same venue in 2024.Hinge’s spell also earned him a place in an elite list of bowlers with four or more wickets inside the powerplay. His figures of 4/18 now sit alongside notable spells by Ishant Sharma (5/12 in 2011), Shoaib Akhtar, Ajit Chandila, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pat Cummins, Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Shami.
Who is Praful Hinge ?
Hinge, a young seamer from Vidarbha, was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakh at the IPL 2026 auction. Before this breakthrough, he had quietly built a reputation in domestic cricket, particularly in the longer format.He made his first-class debut in October 2024 and featured regularly in the Ranji Trophy, where he picked up 16 wickets in 11 innings. Overall, in 10 first-class matches, he has claimed 27 wickets at an average of 26.7 — numbers that underline his consistency and ability to bowl disciplined spells.In T20 cricket, however, Hinge was relatively inexperienced. Prior to his IPL debut, he had played just one match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, returning figures of 1/23 against Andhra while sharing the new ball with Umesh Yadav.Despite limited exposure in the shortest format, SRH saw potential in the young pacer and brought him into a bowling unit featuring experienced names like Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat. On debut, Hinge not only justified that faith but also announced himself as a rising talent to watch out for.
