Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Praful Hinge after Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a convincing 57-run win against Rajasthan Royals at Hyderabad on Monday. SRH posted a par score of 216 runs on the board and then skittled out RR at 159.
Praful Hinge was given the new ball by Ishan Kishan and the right-arm pacer was right on the money from the get-go. Hinge got three wickets in his first over to get off to a dream start.
The fast bowler dismissed in-form Vaibhav Suryavanshi for a golden duck. One ball later, another in-form batter Dhruv Jurel, chopped the ball back onto his stumps. On the final delivery of his game, the 24-year-old pacer from Vidarbha also accounted for Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
Thus, Hinge became the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the first over of an IPL innings. Hinge returned with impressive figures of 4-34 and was awarded Player of the Match.
“He didn’t want to become a fast bowler always. He wanted to become a batter, but his father asked him to focus more on bowling. In fact, there was a question raised on his action. So he worked on that as well. He comes from a very humble background. He didn’t even have money to buy shoes,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator praised Hinge for getting rid of in-form Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
“He was about to make his debut in the last match. Ishan Kishan said at the toss that it was Praful Hinge’s debut, but the pitch was slow, and they brought in Jaydev Unadkat. When he was made to bowl here, he took three wickets in his first over, which included Vaibhav Suryavanshi. A guy who was hitting fours and sixes off the first ball was out on the first ball,” he observed.
The former KKR batter said SRH debutant bowler was able to put the game to bed with his brilliant opening spell.
“We have said repeatedly that Suryavanshi will be tested with bouncers, but Praful Hinge did that. He took three wickets in an over, which means he had almost finished the match. He had taken four wickets at the start. Five wickets had fallen for 10 runs. The entire story had changed. So Praful Hinge is here to stay, first match, first over, and first Player of the Match, Wow,” Chopra elaborated.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Chennai Super Kings at Hyderabad on Saturday.
