Praful Prakash Hinge, born on January 18, 2002, in Nagpur, is a right-arm medium-fast bowler who represents Vidarbha in Indian domestic cricket. Originally identifying as a batter, he transitioned to fast bowling at his father's suggestion and overcame the early hurdle of an illegal bowling action, which he corrected through intensive training to develop a repeatable rhythm. His professional preparation included refining his skills at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and attending a high-performance training camp at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

He made his first-class debut for Vidarbha in October 2024 against Puducherry and followed it with his List A debut in January 2025. Hinge established himself as a "hit-the-deck" specialist, capable of extracting bounce and movement on subcontinental pitches. In November 2025, he recorded his best first-class figures of 4/60 against Tamil Nadu, and by early 2026, he had accumulated 27 wickets in 10 first-class matches.

The 2025-26 season was a breakthrough period for Hinge across all formats. He was a vital member of the Vidarbha side that secured its maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title in January 2026, defeating Saurashtra by 38 runs in the final. During the tournament's group stages, his tactical maturity was highlighted in a match against Baroda, where he troubled Hardik Pandya during specific phases and finished with disciplined figures of 1/47. In the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he emerged as a premier wicket-taking threat, claiming 15 wickets in just 7 matches.

Following this destructive domestic form, Hinge was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of 30 lakh during the IPL 2026 auction in December 2025, after having gone unsold the previous year.

Hinge made an instant impact on his IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals, producing a historic first over where he claimed three wickets, becoming the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the opening over of a match. He finished that debut game with brilliant figures of 4/34 and went on to collect 14 wickets across 7 matches for SRH in IPL 2026. After a brief stint with Nagpur Titans in the Vidarbha Pro T20 League, his rapid rise culminated in his first national call-up when he was selected in the India A squad for the multi-day red-ball series against Australia A in Puducherry in September 2026.