Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Praful Hinge feels that he has only taken a baby step in his career and is unmoved by his sudden fame following an explosive IPL debut.
Hinge dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel in his first two overs during his outstanding debut IPL match against Rajasthan Royals. SRH defeated RR by 57 runs thanks to his four-wicket burst, and Hinge claimed he wasn’t intimidated by the situation.
“I had thought about getting the crowd out of my head first. I wanted to be as calm as possible. I bowled a lot in nets too. So, I had to execute all those things in the match. I felt really good when I did that,” PTI quoted Hinge telling reporters in the JioStar Press Room.
He became a social media sensation overnight thanks to the spell, but Hinge seems unfazed.
“I don’t feel like I have changed. I still have a lot to do as this is just a starting. So, I keep it as simple as possible. I am trying to be the same person as I was before. I don’t feel like I have become famous. This happens in everyone’s life. If you make an effort, if you keep working hard, and if you get a chance, you should give it 100 per cent. That’s what happened to me and it was a great start,” he said.
Out of the four wickets, he received a lot of praise for the scalp of the fast-moving Sooryavanshi. Hinge described his strategy for dealing with the baby-faced batting assassin.
“I had played an under-23 game with him. I had dismissed him with a bouncer. So, I thought if I bowl the same ball, he will hit it because he has been hitting everyone from the first ball. So, I thought that I should test him with a back of the length ball and he tried to hit and could not,” he said.
Prior to his debut, the 24-year-old claimed that bowling to big hitters like Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, and Abhishek Sharma at SRH nets gave him some confidence.
“It’s their style of playing. They hit every ball. Our team is like that and they have the same approach on the net. Our approach in the nets is that the more we put bowlers under pressure, the more we consider it as a match.
“It’s like playing a real match. So, I am used to that situation, while bowling against Abhishek, Ishan and Klaasen. Obviously, they will hit sixes. So, I also try to bowl my best ball,” said Hinge, touted as a fearless prodigy in his camp.
The Vidarbha pacer also expressed gratitude to the trainers at Chennai’s MRF Pace Academy, which is led by Australian great Glenn McGrath, for helping him improve as a fast bowler early on.
“There I got to know how much I can develop myself as a fast bowler as fast bowlers from every state came there to learn. So, I got to know where I stand and where I have to stand. So, then I started working on my skills. After that, I went to Australia as well. It was a very good experience. Every year, two boys were taken to Australia. So, when I bowled on their wickets and then came to India, it was very good.”
Hinge praised former India bowler Varun Aaron, with whom he has collaborated extensively.
“He’s a fast bowler and he understands fast bowlers. So, the mutual understanding between fast bowlers is good and he works on what I feel is right. He doesn’t tell me anything extraordinary. He just tells me what my body needs.
“It’s something that can help me in bowling. Amazing. So great to have fast bowling coaches and mentors like that around you so that you can develop your skills. He is a great person,” he added.
