Praful Hinge Instagram Followers Shoot Up: This 24-year-old right-arm fast bowler Prafulla Hinge from Vidarbha had played only one professional T20 match in his entire career before entering the IPL field. Hyderabad had signed him for his base price of Rs 30 lakh, which was the lowest possible price. No other franchise was even ready to bid for him.

Flood of followers on social media

Before the match against Rajasthan Royals on April 13, Prafulla Hinge had around 3,000 followers on his Instagram account. His name did not matter to the common cricket fan. Then came Monday evening and those 6 balls that changed everything. Today he has become a popular face on social media. Till the time of writing this news, he has more than 4 lakh 60 thousand followers.

A blast in the very first match

Sunrisers Hyderabad handed the new ball to Hinge against Rajasthan Royals. This was a decision which on paper seemed like a gamble, and almost bordered on recklessness. Perhaps the most explosive opening pair of IPL 2026 was waiting at the crease, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal were ready to create a blast. The batting lineup of Rajasthan Royals was very strong and intimidating from top to bottom. Hinge gave a run on his first ball. Then, on his second ball, he dismissed Suryavanshi for a ‘golden duck’. The entire stadium jumped with joy. But the work of this pacer was not finished yet.

After a few balls, he also clean bowled Dhruv Jurel. Then finishing the over, he also sent Luan-Dre Pretorius to the pavilion; 3 wickets in 6 balls. This was the very first over of the innings. This had never happened before in the history of IPL. In the post-match presentation, he said, ‘I had imagined this, I think last year I had written somewhere that I would take 4 or 5 wickets in whatever first match I play.’

In his second over, he also dismissed RR captain Riyan Parag. At the end of his spell, his figures were: 3 overs, 0 maidens, 18 runs, 4 wickets, which included 13 dot balls. He received the ‘Player of the Match’ award and SRH won by 57 runs.

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