Although it was the explosive batting numbers that got repeatedly highlighted by experts and veteran cricketers in Kolkata Knight Riders' thundering run to the final and eventually lifting the elusive Indian Premier League (IPL) title on Sunday, it was stellar combined effort from the bowling unit in the second half of the season that saw the side an unbeaten run to glory in the month of May. Young India fast bowler Harshit Rana did the heavy lifting in the pace department all through the season, picking 19 wickets in 13 matches, as he finished as the team's second-highest wicket-taker after Varun Chakravarthy (21) and fifth overall in the season.

Yet for Rana, the moment that remains memories of the million IPL viewers over the riveting season was when he pulled off that flying kiss gesture against Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Mayank Agarwal at the start of the season, and then almost did the same in a game against Delhi Capitals. Rana paid the price for his aggression as he was slapped with a heavy fine before being suspended for a game. The right-armer was later even teased by his teammates leading him admitting that he would never repeat the act again.

On Sunday, after KKR's emphatic eight-wicket win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against Sunrisers Hyderabad, franchise co-owner Shah Rukh Khan met all the players and congratulated them personally for their efforts.

When it to Rana, he hugged him before revealing his plans for the IPL celebrations saying that he would tell every member of the Kolkata unit to emulate that flying-kiss gesture during the trophy photoshoot, leaving the youngster burst into laughter.

While he may not seemed to have believed SRK, but the Bollywood superstar stayed true to his words as he asked every KKR player and staff members to do it at the count of three during their group photoshoot with the IPL trophy and they did it.

This was KKR's third IPL title win. They previously lifted the trophy back in 2012 and 2014, under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, who returned to franchise last year as a mentor.

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