SRH coach Varun Aaron’s pre-debut talk sparks Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain carnage vs RR: 'I’ll be angry if you don’t…'

Varun Aaron revealed that it was at his insistence that the SRH management agreed to rope Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain at the auction last December.

Two debutants — Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain — orchestrated Sunrisers Hyderabad’s emphatic 57-run win over Rajasthan Royals on Monday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The two fast bowlers picked up four wickets each as SRH secured just their second win of the IPL 2026 season.

Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge picked up four wickets each against RR

Praful wreaked havoc in the very first over of Rajasthan’s chase of 215, becoming the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the opening over. His fourth came in his next over, when he dismissed captain Riyan Parag.

Sakib, meanwhile, struck in the powerplay by removing Yashasvi Jaiswal before triggering a lower-order collapse to seal the win. The duo finished with combined figures of 8 for 58.

Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, SRH bowling coach Varun Aaron opened up about his pre-game message to the two bowlers.

“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 said.

Aaron also revealed that it was at his insistence that the SRH management agreed to rope in the two bowlers for INR 30 lakh at the auction last December.

“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 added.

Aaron has also played a key role in Praful’s journey. The 24-year-old seamer from Vidarbha, who has played 10 Ranji Trophy matches and had just one T20 appearance before his IPL debut, had suffered a career-threatening injury early on.

“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 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, Prakash Hinge, told TimesofIndia.com.