4 min readApr 14, 2026 07:30 AM IST
The Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first home win of IPL 2026, defeating Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs to claim their second win of the season.
Two key architects of the victory – debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain – took a combined figures of 8/58 to lead the hosts to victory. Bowling coach Varun Aaron revealed that he had pleaded with the bowlers ahead of the game to enjoy the occasion, or else he would be upset with both of them.
“My only plan to them was to just enjoy the game today because you debut only once in any form of cricket, and I feel from where they’ve come, both the bowlers and what they’ve done today is massive, and you’ve just got to enjoy the game. My only plea to both of them was before the game that if I don’t see you enjoying the game, I’m going to be really angry with you, and they really did enjoy the game, and we all enjoyed it as well,” Aaron said in the post-match press conference.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ✅
Praful Hinge ✅
Lhuan-dre Pretorius ✅A dream start for Praful Hinge on his #TATAIPL debut 🧡
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2026
Aaron also credited the SRH management for supporting his call to buy Praful and Sakib Hussain, who the 2016 IPL champions bagged at base prices of 30 lakhs at the auction. “I had seen these bowlers before. I did present their names to the management, to Dan (Dan Vettori), and to all the other coaches, but at the end of the day, everybody’s buy-in is needed to pick boys at the auction. So I wouldn’t take the credit.”
“It’s the team’s credit that we believed in these boys; we picked them. When I had seen them across different tournaments and in the nets, I always knew they had the X factor when it came to all of them,” Aaron added.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi trap
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been the buzz around the Uppal ahead of the game; however, the anticipation was vaporised as soon as the second innings began, when the young Praful outfoxed Vaibhav with a shorter delivery, who got beaten all ends up and was taken by Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Praful, speaking to the broadcasters after the game, said, “The best one was the first wicket of Sooryavanshi, because he was in form. I had already told a couple of people that I would get him out on the very first ball, either with a bouncer or in some way. I just wanted his wicket on the first ball. That was the plan. Also, our bowling coach Varun bhai helped me a lot.”
However, Aaron said the only part he played in the plan was which angle he wanted Praful to operate from. “The conversation was that he wanted to go around the wicket, and I was like, ‘No, you just stay over the wicket. I’m sure you’ll get him out.”
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“I mean, it’s teamwork, you know,” Aaron conceded. “At the end of the day, all credit goes to Praful. He had the conviction to get Vaibhav out. He said, ‘I’ve gotten Vaibhav out before, I’m going to get him out today. But the plan was his, the conviction was his, and I’m really happy for him.”
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