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Rajasthan Royals leg-break spinner Wanindu Hasaranga's love for South Indian movies was the underlying factor behind his 'Pushpa' style celebration against Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The Sri Lankan ball tweaker's four-wicket haul inspired the Royals to their first win in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league on an action-packed Sunday. Out of his four scalps, Hasaranga punched the return ticket of the Super Kings batters, a ball after conceding a maximum on three occasions. Hasaranga added a filmy touch to celebrate his moment of success. He pulled off the trademark move of Allu Arjun's blockbuster 'Pushpa' to add entertainment and spice to the gripping affair. "I love to watch Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil films, and I got that from the Pushpa film," Hasaranga said after the match. Like in the movies, Hasaranga was Rajasthan's hero with the ball. He burst into the scene by dismissing Rahul Tripathi on his first ball of the match. He continued to add to CSK's woes, struck at crucial junctures, broke the backbone of their chase to leave them jaded, and ended his four-over spell with figures of 4/35. "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," he added. Hasaranga trapped Shivam Dube, Tripathi, Rutuaj Gaikwad, and Vijay Shankar in his spin web, but he relished the CSK skipper's scalp the most, who threatened to take the game away with his scorching 63. "(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 said. Rajasthan made CSK tilt at the windmills throughout their 182-run defence. CSK's top stars came in and played a couple of shots but eventually perished and surrendered to a six-run defeat. While the hosts derived a fair amount of schadenfreude, Hasaranga exuded confidence in their bowling attack, especially after the bashing they received in their previous two fixtures. "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. (ANI)
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