Watch: Harshit Rana brings back controversial flying kiss celebration after dismissing Abhishek Sharma
Published - 03 Apr 2025, 09:54 PM | Updated - 03 Apr 2025, 11:43 PM
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The 23-year-old Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) right-arm pacer Harshit Rana brought back his controversial flying kiss celebration during the 15th match of the Indian Premier League 2025.
Harshit Rana pulled off a flying kiss celebration with a slight twist after dismissing the explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad opening batsman Abhishek Sharma at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, April 3.
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Harshit Rana removes Abhishek Sharma for 2
Defending 200, the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers took their team to a great start as Vaibhav Arora removed Travis Head in the first over, and Harshit Rana removed Abhishek Sharma in the second over.
On the last ball of the 2nd over, Harshit Rana bowled a slower ball to Abhishek Sharma wide of the off-stump. Abhishek Sharma threw his hands at it and the bottom hand came off. The ball looped off the edge and went straight into the hands of Venkatesh Iyer in the slips.
After dismissing the SRH opener Abhishek Sharma for 6-ball 2, Harshit Rana brought out a flying kiss celebration. However, he did it with a twist after being punished by the governing body last season as he was seen giving the kiss to the crowd and not the batter.
Watch: Harshit Rana Revives Controversial Flying Kiss Celebration
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Should SRH change batting approach?
In an interaction on ESPNCricinfo ahead of the KKR vs SRH clash, Aakash Chopra was asked whether the Sunrisers Hyderabad should think about changing their approach with the bat. Responding to this, he said that the Pat Cummins-led team should think about it in the second half of the innings. He elaborated:
"You can think about it in the second half of a T20 innings. The way they play and the firepower they have, That allows them. They get the license to go and hit. In the beginning, you will walk like a horse. You don't have to stop. You have to hit every ball, which is fine.
"But if, like in Vizag, there is a match in the afternoon. You are losing one wicket after another. Everyone is hitting, but they are losing wickets. And by the 13th over mark, you have already lost 7 wickets. Now 7 wickets have gone and 7 overs are left. So nowadays it happens that every ball should be maximized, optimized.
"So for that, play all 20 overs. If you play the all 20 overs, then you will optimize it. Otherwise, if you don't play 15 balls, then that optimization or maximization will not work. So I think the second half of a T20 innings, You can at least reassess where you are standing. Do you want to run or will walking work? Because in my opinion, if you don't even play 120 balls in a 20-over game, Then that is a counterproductive."
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