Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana is enjoying a breakthrough season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he has picked up 11 wickets matches so far. The 22-year-old has impressed many experts and veteran cricketers with his stellar show in IPL 2024, and his performances have also earned him a reckoning for the T20 World Cup squad. Harshit, however, has been involved in a few incidents which haven’t gone down well with fans or even former cricketers.
Harshit had come under the scanner for giving a flying-kiss send-off to Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Mayank Agarwal earlier during the season.
The player was docked 60 per cent of his match fees by the BCCI and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had also slammed him for the gesture.
On Monday, Harshit could have made the headlines once again when he almost gave a similar send off to Delhi Capitals’ Abishek Porel after dismissing him in the seventh over.
Porel had struck him for back-to-back boundaries but Harshit had the last laugh eventually. Elated with the wicket, Harshit gestured with his hand towards the batter, showing him the way to the dugout.
However, he refrained himself from crossing the limits after recalling BCCI’s hefty punishment.
Coming to the game, DC opted to bat first after winning the toss and they never really got going as a batting unit. Skipper Rishabh had made 27 in 20 balls, with two fours and a six and looked to be the only batter with a decent contribution, until spinner Kuldeep Yadav (35* in 26 balls, with five fours and a six) helped the Capitals save face and score 153/9 in their 20 overs.
In the run-chase of 154, Phil Salt (68 in 33 balls, with seven fours and five sixes) took the game single-handedly from DC. Though DC got some wickets, skipper Shreyas Iyer (33 in 23 balls, with three fours and a six) and Venkatesh Iyer (26 in 23 balls, with three fours and a six) helped KKR seal a win with seven wickets and 21 balls in hand.
