From a Rs 20 lakh rookie in 2022 to a Rs 4 crore retention in 2025, Harshit Rana’s journey with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has been nothing short of dramatic. The pacer barely featured in his first two seasons — playing just two games in 2022 and six in 2023 — but his breakthrough came in 2024.
With 19 wickets at an average of 20.16, he became a key figure in KKR’s championship-winning campaign.
KKR rewarded his rise with a staggering 1900% salary hike ahead of the 2024 mega auction, retaining him at Rs 4 crore. It was a clear nod to his impact in the previous season.
But there was another twist. Despite being in India’s squad, he remained an ‘uncapped’ player for the IPL.
How did KKR pull this off?
According to IPL rules, a player who makes his international debut before the retention deadline automatically loses his ‘uncapped’ status, which would have made Rana a more expensive proposition at the auction. But timing worked in KKR’s favour.
The retention deadline was October 31 at 5 PM IST. A day later, on November 1, India was set to face New Zealand in the third Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, with Rana in the squad. However, since KKR had already locked in their retentions, he remained an uncapped player in IPL’s records—even if he played the next day.
As it turned out, Rana did not feature in that match. His international debut was further delayed to November 22, when he finally played in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. By then, KKR had already retained him at the uncapped player price of Rs 4 crore, dodging a potential auction battle for his services.
This was not the first time fate intervened in Rana’s India debut. In October 2024, he was set to play the third T20I against Bangladesh but was ruled out due to a viral infection.
KKR’s decision to retain Rana drew some criticism, especially since it cost them a Right to Match (RTM) card. But in hindsight, it was a masterstroke — securing a promising Indian pacer at a controlled price rather than letting him enter a bidding war.
The franchise has made bold financial moves in recent years, re-signing Venkatesh Iyer for a staggering Rs 23.75 crore at the mega auction. Alongside Rana, they also retained Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh, while re-acquiring players like Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, and Vibhav Arora.
Bad luck for Rana? But for KKR, it was a win.
