Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast bowler Tushar Deshpande displayed nerves of steel to close out a nail-biting contest against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) tonight (April 4). Tasked with defending just 11 runs in the final over, Deshpande leaked only four while picking up the wicket of Rashid Khan to seal the GT vs RR match and hand Royals their second consecutive win of the season.
Tushar absolutely nailed his yorkers and wider deliveries on point, giving no space to the batters to get underneath and hit a big shot. After bowling the final ball, an ecstatic Tushar jumped in the air and then pointed at the ground to recreate KL Rahul’s ‘This is my turf’ celebration.
Notably, the wicketkeeper-batter had done it while playing against his former franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at his home in Chinnaswamy stadium last season.
Watch the video Tushar’s celebration celebration below.
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Speaking about the GT vs RR match, the Riyan Parag-led side eclipsed their oppoenents in a nervy finish to extend their unbeaten streak in the tournament with two out of two wins and currently occupy the top spot in the IPL 2026 points table with four points and a healthy NRR of +2.333. The credit for the win goes to RR pacers Jofra Archer and Tushar Deshpande, who bowled the 19th and the 20th overs.
With GT needing only 15 runs off 12 balls in their chase of 211, both Jofra and Tushar leaked only four runs each as the Royals won the match by six runs.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, RR batting sensations Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal got them off to another flying start with a 70-run opening stand. While Sooryavanshi eventually perished after 18-ball 31, Jaiswal went onto complete his fifty.
Dhruv Jurel then continued the momentum and finished as the top-scorer for the RR side with a quickfire 42-ball 75, comprising five boundaries and five maximums and took the scoreboard past the 200-run mark.
Interestingly, Jurel had also advised Riyan with his death bowling picks, which worked out in the end.
Parag said at the post-match ceremony, “He (Dhruv Jurel) asked me to go Jofra on the 19th so credit to him for that.”
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