New Delhi/Bengaluru: Prakash Hinge is a proud father but there is a former accountant in him who is very measured with his choice of words and expression of exhilaration when it comes to celebrating son Praful’s match-winning IPL debut.
In fact, the Hinge family didn’t even know whether their boy would be playing against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
“We knew that he was supposed to play against Punjab as he was in the Impact Players list. We never ask him if he is playing. He calls everyday at 10pm before going off to sleep and we just have normal conversation,” Prakash told PTI.
“Yesterday, when the IPL telecast started, we saw on TV that he will make his debut. So, we were happy.”
The happiness only grew as the game unfolded. Praful ran through RR’s in-form top order in a stunning opening spell of 2-0-6-4 which paved the way for SRH’s massive win by 57 runs.
Prakash, who hails from Nagpur, recalled the time he enrolled Praful at the local Gymkhana club after observing his son’s interest in cricket when he was around 13 years of age.
“I played in neighbourhood bylanes. My son was interested and I enrolled him in a local academy. Yes, I told him to balance both but also wanted to give him freedom to choose his own path,” Hinge senior said in a very matter of fact manner.
Once Praful made it to the Vidarbha Under-16 side, there was no looking back. “I am not a pushy father. Once V idarbha Cricket Association took note of my son, I trusted them.”
It was former India pacer Prashant Vaidya who saw a spark in Praful and suggested that he should be sent to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. “Prashant Vaidya sir, former India bowler who was with VCA suggested that Praful should go and train at MRF Pace Academy under expert technical coaches,” Prakash recalled.
But at that time, a lower back stress injury threatened to derail his career.
However, under MRF Pace foundation coach M Senthilnathan and Varun Aaron, who is now the bowling coach of SRH, Praful became sharper and also did well with Under-23 and senior Vidarbha team.
“No matter how much if I thank MRF Pace foundation, Senthil sir, Varun sir, it would not be enough. If he has reached this stage to play IPL, it is to their credit. Also Glenn McGrath gave Praful a lot of confidence and he went to Brisbane to train with High Performance coaches,” the proud father said.
Senthilnathan’s voice was laced with pride when answering a query on how he charted Praful’s journey with the pace foundation.
“When he came to us in 2023 he had a back stress problem and we took care of it first. Basically, he has beautiful line and length. But to put that into use we needed to work on his fitness,” Senthilnathan, head of cricket affairs at the Foundation, said. “...we needed to identify why that (back injury) happened and we worked on his (bowling) technical base. That’s how pressure stopped hitting his back. Then we worked on his bowling areas, and it was a six-month programme. We got him fit and ready for the 2023 domestic season. He did well,” he recalled.
Senthilnathan believes that developing tactical awareness of a bowler is as important as working on his fitness and techniques. The former Tamil Nadu batter credited Australian legend Glenn Mcgrath, the director of coaching at the Foundation, for assisting Praful with that. “McGrath is the best, probably, in the world when it comes to the tactical part. He has the idea on what’s the length to be bowled, what’s the line to be bowled. How to use new and old balls.”