Harshit Rana fined 60% of his match fee for giving flying kiss to Mayank Agarwal amid match [reactions]

It has been merely two days since IPL 2024 began and tempers have flared up on the field. Saturday night saw KKR battle it out with SRH and the nail-biting match eventually led to KKR's big win but the last few overs were full of twists and turns on the field.

KKR team grabbed headlines as it stirred controversies. One is SRK smoking in the stadium despite the ban, and the next one is Harshit Rana a player of KKR violating IPL's code of conduct.

There's no denying that players often show emotions like aggression and happiness on the field. This is what exactly happened between KKR and SRH.

Harshit Rana was on fire as he showcased his brilliance with a sensational delivery to remove SRH opener Mayank Agarwal.

Harshit Rana sent a bouncer which Mayank tried to pull, but failed and was out. As Mayank was all set to leave, Rana gave Mayank a flying kiss in celebration. In response, the Mayank stared back at the bowler as he walked away.

Harshit's on-field gesture was not appreciated by avid cricket watchers as well as veteran cricket players. Sunil Gavaskar slammed the player and said, "He should not have done that. Did the batsman do anything to him when he was hitting him for sixes? Cricket can be played without these antics. It's the age of television. I understand that. Celebrate with your teammates but no need for such antics for the opposition."

Netizens also thought Harshit's gesture wasn't welcoming and that he lacked sportsmanship.

Penalty for Harshit Rana

Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Harshit Rana has been fined a total of 60 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team's four-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens.

According to an IPL statement, Rana breached the rules under Article 2.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct on Saturday.

The statement read, "He was fined 10 per cent and 50 per cent of his match fees for the two respective offences. Rana committed two Level 1 offences under Article 2.5 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. Rana admitted to the two offences and accepted the Match Referee's sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee's decision is final and binding."