At the time of publishing, Hinge’s follower count had jumped even further to 2.82 lakhIPL is known for giving a platform to emerging stars, and the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals introduced the cricketing world—and the internet—to a new name: Praful Hinge. On his debut for SRH, Hinge picked up four wickets, with his first three coming in the very first over of his spell.He dismissed the explosive Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. However, it wasn’t just his on-field performance that caught the attention of netizens; it was his Instagram profile as well.An X account named Sam, which shares cricket-related updates, highlighted the “power of IPL,” noting how Hinge’s performance led to a massive spike in his Instagram following. “Praful Hinge had around 3K followers before the first over and now more than 102K followers on Instagram. Four overs are enough to change your life,” Sam wrote, sharing a screenshot of his profile.THE POWER OF IPL 略Praful Hinge had around 3K followers before the first over and now more than 102K followers on Instagram.4 overs is enough to change your life. pic.twitter.com/Va9ELYF4oP— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 13, 2026 At the time of publishing, Hinge’s follower count had jumped even further to 2.82 lakh, underlining how fortunes can change in the Indian Premier League, where a single standout performance can turn a newcomer into a recognised name.But that’s not all. An Instagram user, Summiit Sarjerao Kshirsagar, shared a video recorded during the match, capturing how Hinge’s follower count kept rising with every refresh. When the video began, Hinge had around 29,000 followers; by the end, the number had crossed 35,000.Watch the video: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Summiit Sarjerao Kshirsagar (@__mr.ssk__) The clip has since gone viral, with netizens flooding the comments section with reactions.One user wrote, “Bhai last 5 minutes se dekh raha hu, 240K se 246K ho gaye.”Story continues below this adAnother commented, “One over. Three wickets. 99K new followers. His per-ball conversion rate would make every startup founder in Bangalore cry.”A third user added, “When people shown on screen for just three seconds get 300K followers and brand endorsement opportunities overnight, this is justified.”Who is Praful Hinge?At just 24, Hinge delivered a dream performance in only his second T20 appearance in senior cricket. He made an immediate impact, dismissing the in-form Sooryavanshi with his very first delivery. What followed was even more remarkable—two more wickets in the same over, making him the first bowler in IPL history to claim three wickets in the opening over of an innings.He wasn’t done yet, returning in his next over to send back RR skipper Riyan Parag and ending his spell with outstanding figures of 4 for 18 in three overs, including 13 dot balls.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ✅Dhruv Jurel ✅Lhuan-dre Pretorius ✅A dream start for Praful Hinge on his #TATAIPL debut 李Updates ▶️ https://t.co/xGTDdKbXpY#KhelBindaas | #SRHvRR | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/wLOPGPCqgR— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2026 Story continues below this adReflecting on his performance after being named player of the match, Hinge said, “I had manifested this, I think I had written it somewhere last year that the first match I play, I will take four or five wickets. I wanted to dominate as much as possible in the power play.”Hinge’s rise has been steady. He debuted in first-class cricket for Vidarbha in October 2024 and featured regularly in the most recent Ranji Trophy season, where he picked up 16 wickets across 11 innings at an average of 26.37. Before this IPL outing, his only T20 appearance came in December 2025 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he returned figures of 1 for 23 against Andhra.