"Harshit Rana's body language.."- Andre Russell drops a massive remark on youngster's attitude after BCCI's punishment

Kolkata Knight Riders‘ all-rounder Andre Russell was all praise for emergency signing Harshit Rana who became the hero last night with his right-arm fast bowling prowess. His final over of the match proved to be the ultimate difference maker as KKR defeated Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 runs at the iconic Eden Gardens. It was a great way to start for Shreyas Iyer, who is returning to captain Kolkata for the first time since 2022.

But the man who stole the show towards the ending phases or at the toe end of the game was New Delhi-based right arm pacer Harshit Rana. He was not an investment made by the 2-time champions during the player auctions last year in Dubai but he was brought in as a replacement for injured Rasikh Salam before the start of the season.

Watch KKR’s winning moment last night

The Man , The Myth , The Legend 🙇..

:- Harshit Rana 💜💛#ShahRukhKhan #KKRvsSRHpic.twitter.com/5NIUe7Lm6c

— 💤𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒂𝒚(𝑲𝑲𝑹 𝑲𝑨 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑽𝑨𝑹)💤 (@SRKzSanjay) March 23, 2024

The 20 Lakh buy proved to be much more impactful than the 24.75 crore buy by Mitchell Starc last night, in terms of economy as well as wickets. Harshit Rana’s bowling performance was a compliment to the efforts put up by KKR all-rounder Andre Russell who had words of praise for the Delhi bowler after the match.

Russell lauds Harshit Rana’s “on-point” body language

The wave of tension was all over Eden Gardens when 13 runs were required off the last 6 balls. A dangerously set Heinrich Klaasen was on strike with left-hander Shahbaz Ahmad on the other end. From the opposing side, Shreyas Iyer, too, was in sheer tension as most of his bowlers – Starc (0/53), Varun Chakravarthy (1/55), Suyash Sharma (0/18 in 2 overs) and Russell (2/25 in 2 overs) had gone for at least 9 per over.

The most economical was Sunil Narine who conceded just 19 runs from all 4 overs, scalping just 1 wicket on the way. The second most economical was Harshit Rana who himself went to Iyer and told that he wanted to bowl the final 6 deliveries. It was a break-it or make-it kind of situation and Harshit chose the latter way.

His first ball did add further tension and Heinrich Klaasen was almost on course to become the hero with his first ball six but Harshit Rana had other plans. After Klaasen took a single off the 2nd ball, Shahbaz Ahmed tried to send the ball over long-on but found Iyer’s safe pair of hands just before the boundary ropes.

Marco Jansen then came in and rotated the strike to Klaasen who then tried to smack one over long-on but there was a major twist in the tale. Rana’s slower delivery took a thick outside edge and was sailing backwards towards short third man Suyash Sharma who converted a very difficult opportunity to a wicket. And that was a game-set match.

Andre Russell who was adjudged as man of the match for the win against SRH, had this to say about Harshit Rana. “Harshit’s body language was on point in the last over; he wanted the ball. If he was shying away from it, it could have gone their way. With the first ball gone for six, he still got the job done.” – Russell said after the match.