Will Harshit Rana Bring Out His Flying-Kiss Celebration Against Virat Kohli? KKR's Pace Sensation Reveals His Answer - WATCH

Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Harshit Rana created much noise for his controversial flying-kiss celebration in the last Indian Premier League (IPL) edition. Rana has now acknowledged that he would never dare to do that with Virat Kohli. Rana first time came up with the flying-kiss gesture after dismissing Mayank Agarwal during a home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens. Rana did the same again after picking up the wicket of Delhi Capitals’ Abishek Porel.

Following his second breach of the IPL Code of Conduct, Harshit Rana was penalised by the tournament’s disciplinary committee which handed him a one-match suspension besides fining his entire match free. The KKR speedster has now opened up about the matter during an interaction on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube podcast.

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Though his gesture courted massive controversies, many fans felt Harshit Rana didn’t do anything wrong by giving a fiery send-off to a dismissed batter. The cricketer has now made it clear that his animated flying-kiss celebration was completely unplanned. “I didn’t plan to do that (flying-kiss send-off) in the first match, nor in the second match. Then people started saying, ‘Show us if you could do that in the RCB match,’” the 22-year-old pacer said.

Harshit Rana was even asked if he would perform such an aggressive celebration against Virat Kohli. In response to the question, Rana demonstrated his respect for the former RCB captain. Highlighting Kohli’s attitude on the field, the KKR star said, “That’s why I didn’t provoke him. I have respect for Kohli, respect for all players, but I can’t do that in front of him.”

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Harshit Rana is the first player in history to get penalised for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct. It, however, was not the only highlight of his campaign. Rana was a key component of the KKR squad which put up a dominant show this season. They finished at the top of the league table with 20 points.

KKR stayed unbeaten in the Playoffs and got the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final to secure their third IPL title. Rana made 13 appearances in the competition and scalped 19 wickets at an average of 20.16.

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