Rajasthan Royals’ leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga celebrated his four-wicket haul against Chennai Super Kings with the iconic ‘Pushpa’ movie style celebration during their IPL 2025 match on Sunday. His performance was instrumental in securing Rajasthan’s first victory of the season, with final bowling figures of 4/35 in his four-over spell.
Hasaranga revealed the celebration was inspired by his love for South Indian cinema. “I love to watch Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil films, and I got that from the Pushpa film,” he said after the match.
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The Sri Lankan spinner made an immediate impact when brought on by dismissing Rahul Tripathi with his first delivery. He went on to claim the wickets of Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Vijay Shankar, with three of his dismissals coming right after conceding sixes.
“I tried to do my basic things, tried to bowl stumps, and at the end, I tried to bowl wide. Our batters batted really well in the first innings, and we saw how the wicket behaved,” Hasaranga explained about his bowling strategy.
Among his four wickets, Hasaranga particularly cherished dismissing CSK captain Gaikwad, who had scored a threatening 63 runs. “(On the wicket he enjoyed the most) Ruturaj Gaikwad because he’s a really good player, he batted really well, end of the innings I got him out. Riyan Parag took a brilliant catch, and Hetmyer was also gun in the field,” he stated.
The match concluded with Rajasthan successfully defending their total of 182 runs, securing a six-run victory.
Hasaranga expressed confidence in Rajasthan’s bowling capabilities, especially after their struggles in previous matches. “We have a really good bowling attack, especially in the middle, myself and Maheesh (Theekshana), and we have different roles to play. The fast bowlers as well. Myself and Maheesh (Theekshana) have to play different roles, sometimes with the old ball and sometimes in the middle,” he said.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
