Praful Hinge on dream IPL debut: ‘I told people I will dismiss Sooryavanshi on a bouncer’

Praful Hinge has entered history books, and what a way to do so. On his IPL debut, which was no short of a dream, the right-arm seamer did what none could to date in the league’s 19-year history. Defending a massive 217, Praful first dismissed the dangerous-looking Vaibhav Sooryavanshi off a bouncer on a first-ball duck, something he admitted telling people about beforehand during the post-match presser. He then accounted for RR’s last game hero Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, both on two-ball ducks, returning with three wickets in his first-ever IPL over. In his next over, he dismissed RR captain Riyan Parag on four to complete his four-wicket haul.

“I had written this somewhere that I will take 4-5 wickets on my debut. I thought of dominating the powerplay. I believe in it (manifestation),” Praful said on his match-winning spell after the game.

Representing Vidarbha in the domestic circuit, Praful began playing cricket at the tender age of 13, and didn’t know what a leather ball was until then. Upon urging his father to put him in a cricket academy, he received ‘You’re too young for this’ as an answer, only for his father to make him join one soon after. Years later, he won his team an IPL match and that too on his tournament debut.

“At the age of 13, I started cricket. Did not know what leather ball cricket was. Asked my father to join a club. But he said I was too young. Then he just took me there, and I kept playing after it. Want to dedicate this award to my family,” Praful reflected on his cricketing journey.

On his favourite wicket

Of course, and for all the right reasons, it had to be Sooryavanshi’s wicket. Explaining what makes it so special for him, Praful said, “I had told people that I would bowl a bouncer to him and get him out. I just wanted to get him out. Varun bhai (our bowling coach) helped me plan it, so thank you.”

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Meanwhile, he wasn’t the only bowler, a debutant or from SRH, to hog the limelight, as his fellow debutant Sakib Hussain, another seamer, did wonders on his IPL debut. Sharing the new ball with Praful, Hussain accounted for Yashasvi Jaiswal on just one before removing Donovan Ferreira on 69 later during the run chase.

He then picked two more in his final over to finish with 4/24 on his IPL debut. Praful, on the other hand, returned with 4/34.