IPL: Praful-Shakib duo add to growing list of small town heroes on big stage

Just when the games were becoming somewhat one-sided with the likes of wannabe power hitters like Vaibhav Suryavanshi or Mukul Choudhury grabbing the spotlight in IPL this year, comes the story of Praful Hinge and Shakib Hussain. The two tall, gawky unheralded pacers rattled the highflying Rajasthan Royals batting line-up with some unexpected bounce and movement on Monday night – showing there is life for the bowlers after all in this format.

Talk about manifesting a dream debut, the 24-year-old Praful from Vidarbha showed he possessed a pace bowler’s quintessential aggro after emerging as the first bowler in the history of IPL to claim three wickets in the first over including that of red hot Vaibhav. ‘’Last year, I had written it somewhere that I will take four or five wickets on my debut,’’ he said after finishing with figures of 4-0-34-4.

It’s the unsettled look about Sunrisers’ pace attack, who are still waiting on their regular captain Pat Cummins to return to the playing XI, which opened the doors for both Praful and Shakib – the later sharing the spoils as an impact player to end with a better economy rate for 4-0-24-4. Shakib once found a taker in Kolkata Knight Riders for a base price of Rs 20 lakh two years back but did not get a game. 

The buzz around them is understandable as there have been only five bowlers in the 19-year history of IPL to have finished with four wickets on debut – and two of them came last night. Stand-in captain Ishan Kishan, who laid the foundation for a 200-plus total with a blazing 91, must have heaved a sigh of relief after the two newcomers paid back the faith as he fielded them ahead of experienced customers like Jaydeb Unadkat and Harshal Patel.

‘’Very happy with his win,’’ said Ishan, whose team has now climbed to fourth position in the table. ‘’Just felt happy because what we were looking for from the bowlers (freedom in execution), we did that. Credit goes to the bowlers. You also have to look at how hungry and motivated they feel.

‘’They were working throughout the season with bowling coach Varun Aaron. They were talking to experienced players. Had to give them a chance at their home ground. It was the right move today,’’  he said.

Lending his bit in Star Sports, TV pundit Ambati Rayudu felt it did not look like the success of the duo were a flash in the pan. ‘’If you ask me, they look like finished products and the next three of four games will be a honeymoon period for them as they are high on confidence. While Shakib is the kind of bowler who can help the team a lot in the death as well as middle overs, Hinge can be a good powerplay bowler,’’ the former international said.

It’s been two seasons now since Praful made his debut in Vidarbha’s red ball team in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, but he caughts the eyes of the scouts in the 2025 Vidarbha Pro T20 League - taking eight wickets in six games at 25.75 at an economy of under nine, playing his part in Jitesh Sharma-led NECO Master Blaster’s title win.

Sakib, who came in as an Impact Sub for Travis Head, is another in a growing line of emerging fast bowling talents from Bihar after the likes of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep. He hails from the faraway Gopalganj where his father, a farmer, had been the sole breadwinner. Hussain wanted to join the army but was pushed into playing local tennis ball cricket. The social media is rife today with stories about his family’s financial hardship and his mother selling her jewellry so he could buy his first pair of spikes.

The 21-year-old, who was bought by SRH at Rs 30 lakh, represented Bihar in first class and T20 cricket so far, having made his senior debut back in the 2022-23 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as a 17-year-old. He made an impression by picking up four wickets against Gujarat and was called up to be a nets bowler for CSK.

The Praful-Shakib story hence is yet another example of how IPL can offer an escape route from poverty from talented youngsters from the vast hinterland of India. As for the future – it’s upto them to keep up the good work!