Deshpande, Rajasthan hold nerve to edge Gujarat in IPL
Spinner Ravi Bishnoi took four wickets but it was Deshpande who held his nerve to deny Gujarat 11 runs in the final over while chasing 211 for victory at their home in Ahmedabad.
Deshpande started with a wide to Kagiso Rabada, who hit an unbeaten 23, but soon nailed his yorkers and dismissed Gujarat's stand-in-skipper Rashid Khan, who made 24, on the fifth ball.
He gave away just four runs as Rajasthan celebrated their second win to take the top spot from Delhi Capitals, who beat Mumbai Indians in the first match of the day in Delhi.
"The discussion was clear, like, you know, we just need to hit one boundary," said Rashid. "And I think Tushar bowled really well. He bowled some exceptional yorkers."
Delhi and Punjab Kings have two wins in two matches but Rajasthan, led by Riyan Parag, are number one in the 10-team table with a better net run-rate.
England pace bowler Jofra Archer was equally effective as he bowled the 19th over for just four runs when Gujarat need 15 to win from the last 12 balls.
"I took a challenge thinking that let's go full and fast," said Parag on going with two quicks in overs 19 and 20.
"It's insane that they (Archer and Tushar) executed as we wanted."
Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan top-scored with 73 and Jos Buttler hit 26 but the batting collapsed after they looked good on 127-2 in 12 overs.
Rashid and Rabada then threatened to pull off the chase with late cameos and a 43-run eighth-wicket partnership but it was not to be.
Impact substitute Bishnoi, a leg-spinner, took down Sudharsan and struck regular blows to rattle the batting as he went past 200 T20 wickets.
Earlier Rajasthan posted a competitive 210-6 after they elected to bat first with wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel hitting 75 and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal 55.
Left-handers Jaiswal and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who hit an 18-ball 31, got the team off to a flier with an opening stand of 70 in 6.2 overs.
Sooryavanshi, a T20 batting sensation who blasted a 17-ball 52 in his team's opening win, unleashed his power with five fours and one six before leg-spinner Rashid cut short his innings.
Jaiswal kept up pace and put on 56 runs with Jurel to strengthen the foundations of the tall total.
Rajasthan wobbled with a few wickets including Shimron Hetmyer out for 18 but Jurel took the attack to the opposition with five fours and five sixes in his 42-ball knock, but it was not enough.