Watch: Wanindu Hasaranga does a MS Dhoni; hits bail with backhand flick in cheeky attempt

Sri Lanka’s incisive young spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has been the hardest bowler to line up from the opposition camp for Indian batsmen throughout their limited-overs tour of the Island nation.

After enduring a rare wicket-less outing in the first ODI in Colombo, Hasaranga came back strongly in the following encounter and delivered an exceptional spell of 3/37 off his 10 overs. Despite that brilliant performance, however, the home team conceded a bitter three-wicket loss to the tourists.

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Wanindu Hasaranga shows his smarts, pulls off an ‘MS Dhoni’

Hasaranga missed the third and final one-dayer of the series due to an injury concern but made a recovery in time for the start of the T20I series, in which he has had two fantastic games already.

Having picked up two wickets for 28 runs off his four overs in the opening game, the 24-year-old delivered the goods in the second match as well on Wednesday (July 28), ending with figures of 1/30 in Sri Lanka’s victory in a low-scoring thriller.

During his spell in the second T20I at the R Premadasa, Wanindu Hasaranga didn’t just exhibit his skill, precision and bewildering variations but also gave a strong example of his street-smartness.

Into his final over on the night, Hasaranga pulled off an ‘MS Dhoni’ as he collected the throw and flicked it onto the stumps with a backhanded attempt to run out the non-striker.

The incident happened on the second ball of the 19th over in the Indian innings, where lower-order batsman Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit Hasaranga down to long-on and called his partner Nitish Rana for a two. But just when it seemed that Rana completing the second run is a near formality, Hasaranga made things slightly interesting by pulling off a backhanded throw at his end.

Thankfully for Rana, he had already made it past the crease when the ball hit the stumps. But that moment showed Hasaranga’s fantastic game awareness, as he took a note out of Dhoni’s book and nearly had a batsman dismissed in the famous style of the legendary wicketkeeper.