Harshit Rana, the fiery fast bowler of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), was controversially involved in the famous flying-kiss send-off during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old prodigy made it clear that he will never give Virat a goodbye kiss at any moment.
This act first directed at Mayank Agarwal in a game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens resulted in Rana’s first offense of the IPO code of conduct and therefore there were financial penalties as well as one match ban.
However, according to Rana, when reflecting on the incident, this was not a premeditated celebration for somebody like Virat Kohli or whoever.
“I did not plan to do that (flying-kiss send-off) in my very first game neither did I plan to do it in the second game. Then people started saying, ‘Show us if you could do that in the RCB match,” stated when speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.
When asked about possibly celebrating such an event against Kohli who has seen as an angry person on field by many, Rana responded with respect for him. “That is why I didn’t provoke him because he is respected by me (Kohli), all players are respected by me but I can’t do that before him,” said highlighted his admiration for India’s cricketing icon.
Apart from being disciplined for flying-kiss incident only; his enthusiasm while playing became unacceptable within professional cricket though people found much fun with his actions off-field.
Rana was also suspended for one match and fined his full match fee by IPL disciplinary committee following another breach of conduct during the season.
He became the first player punished thus in IPL 2024. In spite of this controversy however, KKR’s fastest bowler who took 25 wickets from 21 matches in the 2024 IPL season continued to be a prominent figure however, of pace and aggression given the recent lesson of what it means to show respect for one’s opponents in cricket’s premier tournament.
