[Watch] CSK cricketers and support staff celebrate Tushar Deshpande's birthday ahead of IPL 2024 game vs RCB

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Tushar Deshpande is celebrating his 29th birthday today (May 15). He celebrated the special day in the presence of CSK teammates and support staff.

The Super Kings are currently fighting for a playoff berth. They need to beat the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their last league game to reach the playoffs. The high-voltage encounter is scheduled to be played on Saturday, May 18, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Before leaving Chennai for the final group game, the entire CSK contingent celebrated Deshpande's birthday in the hotel lobby. The franchise shared a heartwarming video on their social media handles.

MS Dhoni lighted the candle before Tushar Deshpande joined him in the middle to cut the cake. Other players and support staff too joined in and the entire squad looked in a good mood before the all-important game.

"Gather around and wish Tushar a happy birthday!🥳💛," CSK captioned the video.

Watch the clip here:

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Tushar Deshpande is Chennai Super Kings highest wicket-taker this season

In the absence of senior pacer Deepak Chahar and the untimely departure of Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana due to various reasons, Tushar Deshpande has had to step in as the leading bowler of the Super Kings unit. And the pacer hasn't disappointed.

Deshpande is currently CSK's leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps from 12 matches at an average of 23.43 and an economy rate of 8.52. He has the best figures of 4/27 that came against the SunRisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The right-arm pacer, who hails from Mumbai, will have to be at his best as the defending champions look to get the better of Bengaluru on Saturday night.

The two teams met in the opening game of IPL 2024 at Chepauk where CSK got the better of the Royal Challengers by six wickets. They successfully chased down 174 runs with eight balls to spare.