Who is Praful Hinge? All you need to know about the 22-year-old pace sensation who took 3 wickets in his first over in IPL 2026

After watching the SRH vs RR IPL 2026 match, only one question is on the minds of all cricket fans: Who is Praful Hinge—the bowler who claimed three wickets in the very first over of his IPL debut? And he did so against none other than the Rajasthan Royals—a team that had not lost a single match in the tournament thus far, and whose batting lineup was widely regarded as one of the strongest in the competition.

On April 13, 2026, two young bowlers from Sunrisers Hyderabad made history. The Rajasthan Royals, currently the table topper of the IPL 2026 points table and considered a batting powerhouse, just had their batting lineup smashed by the two. And the leader of the assault was Praful Hinge. He gave 3 early strikes in the very first over of the innings and claimed 4 wickets. He dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on a golden duck, Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius on a silver duck in his very first over. His sensational bowling continued into the second over as well; claiming the wicket of RR captain, Riyan Parag, he reduced RR's score to just 9 runs for the loss of 5 wickets—and this occurred while RR was chasing a target of 217 runs.

Following these early strikes, the Rajasthan Royals were never able to stage a comeback in the match and ultimately lost by 57 runs. Praful Hinge was awarded the 'Player of the Match' title for his magnificent bowling performance.

Who is Praful Hinge? 

Praful Hinge was born on January 18, 2002, in Nagpur, Vidarbha. Praful's father wanted him to become a bowler right from his childhood. Praful prioritised his father's dream above all else and, instead of becoming a batsman (which was his actual interest), focused on becoming a bowler. Umesh Yadav and Pat Cummins are his idols. Praful worked extremely hard from childhood to become a cricketer. He did not like to talk much and focused entirely on honing his game.

“I started playing cricket at the age of 13. I didn’t even know what leather-ball cricket was back then. When I was 13, I told my father that I wanted to join a club. He refused a couple of times, saying I was too young. But somehow, things started from there. After that, I just kept playing. Standing at this stage, it feels really good. I want to dedicate this award to my family. They’ve made a lot of sacrifices for me.” 

In the year 2024, he made his first-class debut for Vidarbha against Puducherry. In his debut game, he claimed 4 wickets ( 2 wickets in each innings) and impressed the selectors. So far, he has played 10 FC matches, 6 List A matches, and 2 T20 matches. He has taken 27 wickets in FC, 5 wickets in List A, and 5 wickets in T20. He was acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL Auction 2026 for his base price of 30 lakh INR, and in his IPL debut, he impressed everyone with his bowling. 

After the match, he stated that he was ready for the game and had a plan for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He dismissed him with a bouncer, which he had already shared with his team before the game. 

“The best one was the first wicket of Sooryavanshi, because he was in form. I had already told a couple of people that I would get him out on the very first ball, either with a bouncer or in some way. I just wanted his wicket on the first ball. That was the plan. Also, our bowling coach Varun bhai helped me a lot. And I’m thankful to everyone who supported me.”