Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) young fast bowlers Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge made spectacular debuts in the match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). The fast bowling duo hunted in pair, sharing eight wickets between them with four apiece to secure a much-needed win for the franchise.
Praful Hinge, in fact struck thrice in his very first over, to become the first bowler in IPL history to snare three scalps in the opening over of an innings. Following their impressive maiden outings, the SRH management continued to back the pacers and they now have the task of defending 194 runs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) today (April 18).
When quizzed about the exact role of the two, SRH bowling coach Varun Aaron opened up on how the SRH management plans on using them.
Varun said on air during the SRH vs CSK match, “Yes, that’s the idea. Praful will more of powerplay overs while we look to use Sakib Hussain at the death.”
Praful is more of a hit-the-deck bowler with speeds over 140 and can generate extra bounce, while being able to swing the ball. Sakib, contrarily, can vary pace and has an effective back-of-the-hand slower ball which can come in handy to get breakthroughs and restrict run flow.
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In their debut game against Rajasthan, Praful bowled three out of his four overs in the powerplay and picked up all his wickets with the new ball. Sakib, on the other hand, was used in different phases and he delivered everytime. With the new ball, Sakib bowled two overs and picked up one wicket. He then returned in the middle overs and once again delivered before picking up two more wickets from his final over in the death.
Sakib and Praful were bought at the respective base price of INR 30 lakhs. Praful Hinge, who hails from Vidarbha, stole the spotlight as one of the standout bowlers in the 2025 Vidarbha Pro T20 League, taking eight wickets in six games at 25.75. Sakib, on the other hand, had previously been bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the IPL 2024 auction but did not get any gametime and also served as a net bowler for CSK.
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