The 24-year-old Vidarbha fast bowler looks up to Pat Cummins and finds inspiration in Umesh Yadav.
On his IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), right-arm quick Praful Hinge was tasked with opening the bowling against the formidable opening duo of Rajasthan Royals, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. An unidentified player named Hinge accomplished the unimaginable by taking Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius out in one over.
“I had manifested this, I think I had written it somewhere last year that the first match I play, I will take four or five wickets,” Hinge said after winning the player of the match. “I wanted to dominate as much as possible in the powerplay.
“I started playing cricket at the age of 13. I didn’t initially know what leather ball cricket is. But, I told my father to enrol me in a club and he took me there and that’s how I started my cricket. I want to dedicate this award to my family.”
Hinge claimed that taking Sooryavanshi out made him the happiest. “I had threatened to use a bouncer to get rid of him. The goal was to simply dismiss him on the first ball. Varun Aaron, the bowling coach, was very helpful to me.
In October 2024, Hinge made his first-class debut for Vidarbha. He played frequently in the most recent Ranji Trophy, taking 16 wickets at an average of 26.37 in 11 innings. He took 1 for 23 in his lone Twenty20 match against Andhra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in December 2025. His T20 stock increased during the Vidarbha Pro T20 League’s debut season last year, when he played a crucial role in Neco Master Blasters’ championship run.
Hinge makes good use of his lanky build and can bowl at a quick speed. He began playing cricket at the age of 13, and he has publicly expressed his admiration for his regular SRH captain, Pat Cummins, and his desire to be in the same dressing room as him. Hinge’s Vidarbha elder, Umesh Yadav, alongside whom he began the bowling for his T20 debut, has also served as an inspiration.
Hinge has taken five wickets in six List A games and 27 wickets in ten first-class matches.
