[Picture] “Look who just joined us!” - Wanindu Hasaranga joins RCB for remaining IPL 2023 season
Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the remainder of the IPL 2023 season on Monday, April 10. The leg spinner was not available for the first three games due to international commitments. He was part of the Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand, which ended on April 8.
Alongside an Instagram post announcing Hasaranga's arrival, RCB wrote:
“Look who just joined us!”
RCB retained Hasaranga for Rs 10.75 crore for IPL 2023. He was the leading wicket-taker for the Bengaluru-based franchise last season, picking up 26 wickets in 16 matches at an economy rate of 7.54. Hasaranga's best bowling figures of the IPL 2022 were 5/18. He will now look to repeat his heroics as RCB chase their maiden IPL trophy this season.
The 25-year-old, though, took just a couple of wickets in the recently concluded three-match T20I series in New Zealand. Having said that, the Lankan spinner has a terrific record in T20s. He has picked up 188 wickets in 139 T20s at an economy rate of 6.78.
Hasranga’s return will strengthen RCB’s bowling unit, which failed to defend 212 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their recently concluded home game.
They are already without Australian speedster Josh Hazlewood, who is likely to miss the first seven games of IPL 2023.
They also lost the services of England pacer Reece Topley, who suffered a shoulder injury in RCB’s opening IPL 2023 game before being ruled out of the T20 tournament. South African speedster Wayne Parnell has replaced him in the squad.
RCB won their opening IPL 2023 game against five-time champions Mumbai Indians by eight wickets but have lost their last two games against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and LSG. They will now look to return to winning ways against the Delhi Capitals at home on Saturday, April 15.
RCB squad for IPL 2023 ft. Hasaranga
Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj, Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Manoj Bhandage, Mahipal Lomror, David Willey, Siddarth Kaul, Sonu Yadav, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Finn Allen, Himanshu Sharma and Vyshak Vijay Kumar.