Who is Praful Hinge? The 24-Year-Old Pacer Behind the Most Explosive Debut in IPL 2026

The 2026 IPL season of Sunrisers Hyderabad will be remembered not only on the outcome of the team, but also on the emergence of a new shocking fast-bowling sensation- Praful Hinge. The 24-year-old right arm pacer had written his name in the books of IPL history, as he was the first bowler to claim three wickets in his first over taking out the Royals of Rajasthan top order in a spectacular opening salvo. 

Making his first appearance in his second career T20 match, Hinge was able to record a figure of 4/34 in 3 overs, which promptly reads like a dream-debut script that immediately left Hinge, a relative unknown on the domestic level, one of the most talked about young bowlers in India.

Who is Praful Hinge?

Praful Hinge or Praful Prakash Hinge, is a 24 year bowler of Vidarbha, Maharashtra; a fast-medium bowler. As a right-arm pacer with a lower-order batting role, his profile focuses on the hit-the-deck aggression, bounce, and the capability of bothering batters on Indian-pitches. 

Prior to his IPL call-up, Hinge had been gradually establishing his name in the domestic circuit, playing in the first-class and limited-overs game on behalf of Vidarbha and slowly becoming a trusted strike-bowling alternative.

A small-town, low-profile child of the Vidarbha cricket system, Hinge has already been as well-trained in high-profile pace-development systems as the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, which has provided the technical basis to his aggressive attitude to the stumps and the short-pitch.

Vidarbha to IPL: His Home Way

His career started in the 2025 Ranji Trophy season, when he played his first-class match in October 2024 against Puducherry in the Vidarbha team. By early 2026, he had played 10 first‑class matches, picking up 27 wickets at an average of 26.37, with a best performance of 4/60 against Tamil Nadu. 

These statistics highlight his skill of always finding the seam and producing movement in a longer format of cricket, even against more experienced domestic batters.

Hinge has also been included in the Vijay Hazare Trophy squad of Vidarbha in limited overs cricket, making his List A debut in January 2025, against Mizoram. He has scored 2 wickets in 6 List A innings with an economy that is very tight, meaning he can adapt with the need to control and exert pressure in 50 overs game. 

His T20 background before the IPL was very small; he had only one recorded T20 match, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he took 1/23 off Andhra in December 2025. This only heightened the drama of his IPL debut in the 2026 season, having been plunged into a high-stakes opener with virtually no professional T20 experience.

The Triple‑Wicket Over

The moment of coming of age Praful Hinge was during the IPL 2026 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, when he was given the new ball in the powerplay. 

The Vidarbha pacer was called upon to open the bowling on his second professional T20 appearance under the heavy pressure of the situation and he replied with a spell that gave renewed meaning to the term debut over.

• During the first over of the innings Hinge hit three times:

• He dismissed Rajasthan Royals’ in‑form opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with the very first ball.

• He then took Dhruv Jurel and Luan -dre Pretorius out in the same over, having made a triple wicket over in the first six balls.

The coaching staff at Sunrisers Hyderabad has observed that the coaching franchise has so far brought to reality the type of performance that Hinge had, who trusted a home grown pacer to open the bowling instead of having to use an already proven overseas star. This assumption about his character and ability is an indicator that SRH considers him to be more than a one-match wonder.

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