Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Harshit Rana has become more cautious in his interactions with the BCCI, as evidenced by his lighthearted conversation with head coach Chandrakant Pandit during a flight diversion. Rana’s request to Pandit not to speak to the BCCI about scheduling is a direct result of his recent one-match suspension and 100% match fee fine for sending off Delhi Capitals batter Abishek Porel. Earlier, Rana was fined 60% of his match fees for blowing a flying kiss to Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Mayank Agarwal.
Despite these disciplinary issues, Rana has been a standout performer for KKR in IPL 2024, sharing the lead in wicket-taking with Sunil Narine with 14 strikes to his name.
During a flight diversion due to inclement weather in Kolkata, Rana and Pandit engaged in a joking conversation about holding a practice session and preponing their last league match against Rajasthan Royals, which is scheduled to take place in Guwahati on the 19th of this month. Rana suggested, ” Let’s do one thing, keep a practice session here.” Pandit responded, ” Yes, one session here and then we can also play our last league match here.” Rana then proposed, “We have the match on the 19th. Let’s get it done with by tomorrow or day after so that we don’t have to come here again.” Pandit replied, “Let me see what I can do. Will have to talk to BCCI.” Rana quickly interjected, ” Don’t talk to BCCI.”
The KKR team was returning from Lucknow after their 98-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants, which propelled them to the top of the IPL 2024 points table. Their initial attempt to land in Kolkata failed due to heavy rains, forcing their chartered flight to be diverted to Guwahati. Their second attempt was also unsuccessful, with the flight being diverted to Varanasi. The team decided to stay in Varanasi and is expected to land in Kolkata around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, weather permitting.
