Harshit Rana openly defies BCCI after 1-match ban!! Vows to repeat his behaviour in the future

Aggression is an exclusive part of sports and it is something that Kolkata Knight Riders' uncapped pacer Harshit Rana will always use in his cricketing career.

Harshit Rana, after winning the 2024 IPL edition last Sunday with KKR, spoke in depth about the one-match ban he was handed during the league stages. Rana was punished by the IPL authorities and the BCCI for his aggravated behaviour after taking a wicket during Kolkata's home game against Delhi Capitals.

The ban had come weeks after Harshit Rana had pulled off the Flying Kiss celebration for the first time in IPL 2024 during KKR's opening game. Rana blew one kiss away for Sunrisers Hyderabad's opening batter Mayank Agarwal at the Eden Gardens stadium wherein the Purple and Gold army had won the game by 4 runs.

Why was Harshit Rana banned from a match?

As an aftermath of his behaviour, the BCCI would strip off a few per cent of his match fees for the KKR Vs SRH game and Harshit Rana was in control afterwards. However, during a reverse home game against the Delhi Capitals at the same venue, he committed the same mistake again and this time the authorities didn't spare him.

In his first over, Harshit Rana had gone for 16 runs by Delhi's top-order batsman Abishek Porel and the right-arm seamer wasn't happy with it. In his returning over, the New Delhi-based bowler bowled a length and stump-line delivery which Porel tried to scoop away but the ball ended up zipping through to rattle the stumps.

After getting his revenge over Porel, it was obvious for Harshit Rana to celebrate and he almost gave a flying kiss to the former before retreating. Rana was halfway there to give Porel the send-off but he took a step back after remembering that he was stripped of his match fees for the same reason.

But regardless of his decision to not make the celebration, the IPL authorities decided to teach him a lesson and handed him a one-match ban. Harshit Rana subsequently missed KKR's following tie against the Mumbai Indians.

Rana says this is how he plays cricket

While speaking to the Indian Express after winning the IPL 2024 final against SRH, Harshit Rana explained what he was thinking about when the ban took place. Rana stated that this is how he has been playing cricket - with full aggression and that he is a very serious guy when he's on the field.

Harshit Rana went to total Gautam Gambhir mode when saying that he goes out to the middle in order to win instead of trying to make friends.

"This is my cricket. I have always played my cricket like this. I am a fun-loving guy off the field but on the cricket pitch, I am not there to make friends, I want to win. Abhishek Porel smacked me for 16 runs in my first over. In the next over, I took his wicket, the celebration was my redemption but I got banned." - Rana told Indian Express.