When Hinge boarded the Sunrisers Hyderabad team bus for an IPL 2026 league match against Rajasthan Royals, few, apart from those who followed domestic cricket, knew him. In fact, the Vidarbha quick had close to only 6,000 followers on Instagram when he arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
However, by the end of the game, Hinge had everyone wondering who this 24-year-old pacer was. In his first over, also SRH’s first in the second innings, Hinge struck thrice to become the first bowler in IPL history to pick three wickets in the opening over of an innings.
Among his three victims was, perhaps, modern cricket’s most popular teenager, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Hinge removed him with the first ball and then got Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-Dre Pretorius by the end of the over.
Hinge finished his IPL debut with figures of 4/34 and was adjudged Player of the Match.
“It was a really nice feeling. Every year, there’s someone who becomes the talk of the season, and I used to scroll and see that this guy is getting recognised. And this time, I was scrolling and watching myself, so it was a really nice moment for me,” Hinge told Sportstar.
Right after his IPL debut, his parents back in Nagpur were flooded with calls and messages.
“There were so many calls; the media had come home… for the first two days, they forgot about having food. They were attending calls at 1-2 AM,” Hinge chuckled.
“They were really happy. I have worked hard for moments like these,” he added.
He played six more matches and concluded his season with 14 scalps.
“...by the end of the IPL, they (Instagram followers) had increased to more than 500K,” Hinge said.
After a fruitful debut season, Hinge has continued to grind. Right after the IPL, he went on to play in the Vidarbha Pro T20 League and picked up eight wickets before being called up to the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to play Under-25 Emerging matches.
“These two or three months were like, you need to keep bowling, keep working hard, and know that anytime there could be an opportunity coming, and you need to be ready for that. You can’t miss those chances,” he said.
Hinge is also in constant touch with Varun Aaron, his bowling coach at SRH, from whom he keeps seeking inputs and areas to work on.
“I wanted to keep myself on the field most of the time and learn whatever I could. I also kept speaking to Varun bhaiya, so I kept taking inputs from him. He’s guiding me,” Hinge said.
When Hinge learned about his India A selection, for a second, he couldn’t believe it.
“I can’t say I was not expecting it, but I didn’t know that I would be considered for this series.”
“I believe that if I’m working hard for something, then I will get it in some good way. Maybe I’ll get it late, but I will get it for sure. So, I keep working hard, and I know I will get that call-up someday. By God’s grace, I have got this series. It’s a great feeling. Need to continue working hard,” Hinge said.
For Hinge, the Test format is the epitome of cricket, and all this hard work is for the day he gets to play the longest format for India.
“Since childhood, I have liked playing red-ball cricket. I want to represent India in the Test format. I want that Test cap. All this hard work is for that cap,” he said.
Getting his first India A call-up is all Hinge needs to boost his confidence.
“I’ll try to give my best. How the performances go, I can’t control that, but I need to give my 100 per cent on the ground,” Hinge concluded.
Published on Sep 10, 2026
