Kolkata: Harshit Rana, a 22-year-old pacer playing his maiden IPL, was the toast of Kolkata Knight Riders after his brilliant final over set up a thrilling 4-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens on Saturday night.
Defending 13 runs in the final over, Harshit was hit for a six by the rampaging Heinrich Klaasen. But then he not only dismissed Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed, Rana conceded just 2 runs in the remaining balls to break SRH hearts.
However, Rana’s evening was somewhat marred by a financial penalty that he faced for ‘flying kiss’ gesture after dismissing SRH opener Mayank Agarwal in the sixth over.
Agarwal, who had hit Rana for a magnificent six over backward point, pulled a short ball from the KKR pacer straight to Rinku Singh in his next over.
An excited Rana gave a surprised Agarwal a ‘special’ send-off by blowing a flying kiss towards the departing batter.
Watch the video clip which was went viral on X:
A flying kiss by Harshit Rana to Mayank Agarwal as a send off.pic.twitter.com/LVkQYKmisZ
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 23, 2024
The gesture was seen as a breach of players’ conduct, and Rana was fined 60 per cent of his match fees by Match Referee Manu Nayar.
“Kolkata Knight Riders bowler Harshit Rana has been fined a total of 60 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on March 23,” a statement from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.
“Rana committed two Level 1 offences under Article 2.5 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct. He was fined 10 percent and 50 percent of his match fees for the two respective offences. Rana admitted to the two offences and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.”
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar pulled up Rana for his action.
“He should not have done that. Did the batsman do anything to him when he was hitting him for sixes? Cricket can be played without these antics. It’s the age of television. I understand that. Celebrate with your teammates but no need for such antics for the opposition,” Gavaskar said while commentating on the match.
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