Praful Hinge could hardly have picked a tougher first job in franchise cricket. Thrown the new ball for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals, the 24-year-old from Vidarbha was staring at the aggressive opening pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Six balls later, the Royals were three down and the commentators were rifling through record books.
Hinge, playing only his second senior T20, struck with his very first delivery – Sooryavanshi fenced one that straightened late and edged behind. Two balls on, Dhruv Jurel mis-read the length and lost his off stump. Lhuan-dre Pretorius, sent in to counterattack, survived one ball before slicing to backward point. Three wickets inside the opening over, the first time anyone has done it at the start of an IPL innings. Not a bad way to introduce yourself.
So, who is he? Hinge made his first-class debut for Vidarbha in October 2024 and stuck around the Ranji side last winter, finishing with 16 wickets at 26.37. There was a solitary game in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – 1 for 23 against Andhra – but his reputation really grew during last year’s inaugural Vidarbha Pro T20 League. Bowling for the Neco Master Blasters, he hit the deck hard, reached high-130s kph and kept finding top-order wickets.
“I just try to be awkward,” he told the local press during that tournament. “Use the height, hit the pitch, don’t give freebies.” That uncomplicated plan travelled with him to the IPL.
The action is built on a lean 6ft 2in frame – a bit of snap at the crease, front arm pulling through sharply. Coaches in Nagpur compare his shape to a young Pat Cummins, not coincidentally the bowler Hinge most admires. “Pat is someone I study all the time,” he said in a Vidarbha Cricket Association video last season. “Sharing a dressing-room with him is something I’ve wanted for years.” Umesh Yadav, another Vidarbha product, is a quieter influence; the two opened together when Hinge made his state T20 debut. “Umesh bhai keeps telling me to trust my lengths,” he added.
Numbers so far: 10 first-class matches, 27 wickets; six List A outings, five wickets; two senior T20s, four wickets – three of them in this extraordinary over. The sample size is tiny, the promise obvious.
Sunrisers have already leaned on a few unknown quantities and might do so again. Whether Hinge continues with the new ball or shifts into a middle-overs role, the pace attack suddenly looks deeper. Bowling coach Dale Steyn was measured afterwards: “One over doesn’t make a career, but it certainly announces one.” That feels about right – early days, but a headline start for Praful Hinge.
