Harshit Rana's best IPL season was in 2024, in which he bagged 19 wickets.
Fast bowler Harshit Rana is slowly becoming a mainstay for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He scalped 15 wickets in the latest Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2025. Though he was lauded by a lot of cricket pundits for his pace and simple bowling action, a different incident took the spotlight for Harshit Rana. A year later, the pacer spoke about how KL Rahul’s advice helped him focus on his bowling.
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The incident took place when the Knight Riders played against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Mayank Agarwal was in good form and was taking Harshit to the cleaners effortlessly. Just when the battle was starting to look one-sided, the pacer dropped a bouncer which took Agarwal by surprise. He tried to pull, but could not keep the ball along the ground. Rinku Singh grabbed the catch, comfortably inside the boundary, as the batter was dismissed. It was all fine till then. But all hell broke loose when Harshit brought out his celebration. The speedster blew a flying kiss to the Karnataka batter as a mark of his celebration to the wicket.
In a recent podcast, the fast bowler spoke about how KL Rahul‘s advice helped him focus on his bowling and curb the aggression. He also reflected on how KL Rahul helped him become a better player and person.
“In IPL 2024, after the flying kiss incident, KL Rahul came to me. He told me that there was no problem about the celebration, and that I can continue to express myself on the field. But he stressed that I shouldn’t let it affect my bowling”, said the fast bowler in the interview.
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In today’s day and age, it does not take a lot of time for such an incident to go viral on social media. Harshit Rana’s antics were all over social media soon after his send-off to Mayank Agarwal. Though it did not sit well with a lot of people, the most notable disagreement was from former India opener Sunil Gavaskar. The legend expressed that there was no need for Harshit to give that kind of send-off to a much senior batter. He went on to state that Agarwal did not provoke the fast bowler when he was hitting him for boundaries. So it was uncalled for, on Harshit’s part.
Despite all the celebration chaos, the Knight Riders were successful in registering a narrow victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Harshit Rana played a very crucial part in his final over. Harshit was fined 60% of his match fees for the incident. His best season in terms of wickets came in 2024, in which he managed to pick 19 wickets in 13 games for the Knight Riders. The IPL will always be remembered for giving a platform to young talent, due to which they get the freedom to express themselves on the big stage.
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