IPL 2026: ‘My only plan was to…’ — Varun Aaron to Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain before SRH vs RR game

The IPL 2026 on Monday gave rise to young bowlers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, who were on top of their game for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Hyderabad. Both Praful and Sakib took four wickets each to bundle out RR for 159 in 19 overs.

The inaugural IPL champions were looking to chase down a target of 217 from 20 overs, but that was not meant to be. Praful Hinge struck in the very first over of the Rajasthan Royals' run chase as he took three wickets.

By doing so, he became the first bowler in the history of IPL to take three wickets in the first over. He followed it up with his fourth wicket that came in his next over, when he removed RR skipper Riyan Parag.

Sakib Hussain, on the other hand, got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the power play, before striking three more times in the death overs. Praful finished with figures of 4/34, whereas Sakib registered figures of 4/24.

“My only plan for them was to just enjoy the game because you debut only once in any format of cricket. Considering where they’ve come from, what they’ve done today is massive, and you’ve just got to enjoy it.

"My only plea before the game was that if I didn’t see them enjoying it, I’d be really angry — and they truly did enjoy it. We all did,” Aaron told reporters in Hyderabad after the match. Aaron revealed his role in getting the two of them for ₹30 lakh each.

“I had seen these bowlers before and did present their names to the management, to Dan (Daniel Vettori), and the other coaches. But at the end of the day, everyone’s buy-in is needed at the auction, so I wouldn’t take the credit.

“It’s the team’s credit that we believed in these boys and picked them. From what I had seen in different tournaments and in the nets, I always knew they had the X-factor,” he stated. Aaron has played a crucial part in Praful's cricketing journey. Praful's father recently revealed how the former India pacer helped the youngster during an injury.

“Varun Aaron came like an angel in Praful’s career. Unhone to bahut injury dekha hai (Varun’s career has been marred by injuries). When Praful had a stress fracture, we all thought his cricket career was over, but Varun took him under his wing and helped him recover. He literally hand-held him through that dark phase,” Praful's father was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Their win over the Rajasthan Royals took Sunrisers Hyderabad to fourth place in the IPL 2026 standings, with four points from five matches. That was just SRH's second win of the season, after having beaten Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) earlier. SRH, who are still without their regular skipper Pat Cummins, will next face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Hyderabad on 18 April.