Praful Hinge’s fairytale IPL debut sparks 9,900% Instagram surge, opens doors to brand deals worth lakhs

Till Monday night, Praful Hinge was nobody. Then, he made his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad on 13 April 2026.

The 24-year-old right-arm fast bowler from Vidarbha had played just one professional T20 match in his entire career before stepping onto an IPL ground. He was signed by Hyderabad at his base price of ₹30 lakh, the minimum possible. No other franchise is willing to even make a competing bid.

His Instagram account had around 3,000 followers. His name meant nothing to the average cricket fan. Then came Monday evening and 6 balls that changed everything.

Sunrisers Hyderabad handed Hinge the new ball against Rajasthan Royals. It was a decision that, on paper, looked like a gamble bordering on recklessness.

Waiting at the crease was arguably the most explosive opening pair in IPL 2026: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The RR batting lineup was intimidating from top to bottom.

Hinge conceded a single off his first ball. Then, off his second delivery, he dismissed Sooryavanshi for a golden duck. The stadium erupted. But, Hinge was not done yet.

A couple of balls later, he cleaned up Dhruv Jurel. Then, to close out the over, he sent back Lhuan-dre Pretorius as well; 3 wickets in 6 balls. It was the very first over of the innings. It had never happened before in IPL history.

"I had manifested this," Hinge said after the match. "I think I had written it somewhere last year that the first match I play, I will take 4 or 5 wickets."

In his second over, he dismissed RR captain Riyan Parag as well. By the end of his spell, the figures read: 3 overs, 0 maidens, 18 runs, 4 wickets, with 13 dot balls. He won the Player of the Match award as SRH cruised to a 57-run victory.

Before Monday night, Hinge had roughly 3,000 followers. That placed him firmly in the Nano category (1K–10K). Brands would have paid him between ₹2,000 and ₹10,000 per post, if anyone was even approaching him at all. Realistically, no brand was.

As of now, with nearly 3 lakh followers, Hinge has crossed into the Mid-tier category (100K–500K). According to the Jigsawkraft data, brands typically pay Mid-tier influencers between ₹75,000 and ₹2.5 lakh per post.

The important caveat is that Instagram follower count alone does not determine what a brand pays. Engagement rate, niche relevance and virality matter enormously.

Hinge's followers came in a single explosive night, which means his engagement rate, likes, comments and shares relative to followers, is likely very high right now.

A freshly viral account with genuinely excited followers is often more attractive to brands than a mid-tier account that grew slowly with passive followers.

Given the overnight IPL fame, Hinge could realistically command ₹1 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh per sponsored post right now. He’ll possibly demand more if a cricket-adjacent brand approaches him while the buzz is at its peak.