IPL 2022: Wanindu Hasaranga’s brilliant show against Kolkata Knight Riders had Yuzvendra Chahal excited for his former franchise.
For several years, Yuzvendra Chahal was the strike bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), picking key wickets and doing so in heaps. However, he was released by the franchise ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and not bought back in the Mega Auction, with the team opting to spend big on Sri Lankan leg-spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Chahal was bought by Rajasthan Royals in the auction, and he had a brilliant debut for them, picking three wickets against SunRisers Hyderabad. However, his ties with his old franchise remain strong as was displayed during RCB’s match against KKR on Wednesday.
Hasaranga was in brilliant form in Navi Mumbai, as he picked four wickets to help RCB bowl KKR out for 128.
He got the big wicket of KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer and followed it up with sending Sunil Narine and Sheldon Jackson back to the pavillion in back-to-back deliveries. He then dismissed Tim Southee to complete his four-wicket haul.
When the Sri Lankan got his third wicket, Chahal took to Twitter to write: “Wanindu Hasaranga champion.”
Chahal appreciating the player who essentially replaced him in RCB went on to show that he still had strong feelings for his former team.
The tweet got over 30,000 ‘likes’ and 2,000 retweets.
Apart from Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Akash Deep were also key for RCB with the ball.
Harshal Patel returned figures of 2/11, with two back-to-back wicket maidens that saw him eventually dismiss the dangerous Andre Russell.
Akash Deep meanwhile was expensive, but picked three wickets for his team.
RCB had an early wobble but a strong middle-order performance saw them chase down the total with three wicket to spare in the final over and register their first win of the season.
