Hyderabad, April 13 -- Records, like old certainties, usually arrive with a sense of permanence. And then along comes Praful Hinge to remind the Indian Premier League that even the first over of a cricket match can be rewritten into something almost theatrical.
In a feat never before seen in IPL history, a bowler has taken three wickets in the very first over of an innings, turning what is usually a cautious opening passage into a collapse that felt almost surreal in its speed and certainty.
A debutant, Hinge produced a debut spell that will be retold in dressing rooms for a long time, dismantling the Rajasthan Royals top order in a sequence that left even the home spectators momentarily disbelieving what it was witnessing.
The first bal...