Praful Hinge Creates 'First Time Ever' Record In IPL History (Source: AP Photos)
Even before the IPL 2026 started, SRH’s bowling was considered the weakest in the league. The team had hardly invested in big names in the mini auction, and its effects started to show in the ongoing tournament. While the Orange Army scored plenty of runs with the bat, they also conceded a plethora of runs with the ball.
In the last IPL match against PBKS, the SRH bowlers turned out to be the weak link as they allowed the Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings to chase down 220 with utmost ease, without breaking a sweat.
As a result of the drubbing, SRH skipper Ishan Kishan made a key change for the match against the rampant Rajasthan Royals side. X-factor Praful Hinge was included in the playing XI, and the move turned out to be a masterstroke, almost instantly.
Praful Hinge creates first-time ever record in IPL
The youngster had a monumental task ahead of him- to contain the dangerous Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had smacked Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood in the last IPL game.
Nobody gave the SRH pacer a chance, but as they say, IPL is all about the talent meeting the opportunity, and Hinge grabbed his opportunity with both hands to dismiss Sooryavanshi for a golden duck.
The RR opener was dismissed on the second ball of the first over. It was followed by the wicket of Dhruv Jurel in the same over, who, too, departed for a duck. The icing on the cake was the scalp of Lhuan-dre Pretorious, who was also sent back for a duck in the same over.
With the third wicket, Hinge created history as he became the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in his first-ever over.
Who is Praful Hinge, the SRH pacer who made RR batters look clueless?
Hinge made a name for himself playing for Vidarbha, and his exploits helped him earn a deal with SRH as the franchise bought him for INR 30 lakh. The side lacked an Indian wicket-taker in their lineup, and this is exactly what Praful brings to the table.
Praful Hinge’s journey to the IPL has been built on consistent performances in age-group cricket for Vidarbha. His breakthrough campaign came during the 2023-24 Under-19 CK Nayudu tournament, where he scalped 26 wickets, at an average of 19.
In 10 first-class matches, the right-arm pacer has scalped 27 wickets, with an average of 26, and in T20s, Praful Hinge has taken a solitary wicket in just one game.
Also Read: Ishan Kishan Receives Flowers From Kavya Maran
Praful Hinge does the unthinkable against RR
The Rajasthan Royals have a plethora of quality batters in their arsenal, but none bigger than Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who, at the age of 15 has become the most destructive batter in the league.
In the four games that he had played before the IPL match against SRH, Sooryavanshi had two scores of 15-ball fifties (one against CSK, the other vs RCB). Hence, stopping him was SRH’s biggest headache in the second innings.
While all the big bowlers failed to deliver the goods against Sooryavanshi in the last match, the surprise factor, Hinge, did the unthinkable and dismissed the RR opener for his first-ever IPL golden duck.
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