23-year-old Champions Trophy-winning Indian pacer joins KKR camp ahead of IPL 2025

Team India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana has joined his franchise's camp to commence preparations for IPL 2025. The 23-year-old was last seen on the field representing India during the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai earlier this month.

The Men in Blue lifted the trophy by beating New Zealand in the final. Rana played the first two games of the tournament but was later replaced by Varun Chakaravarthy, who stole the show with stunning performances in the remaining games. After winning his first ICC trophy with the Indian team, Rana's focus will now shift to the IPL. He was retained by KKR for ₹4 crore ahead of the mega auction last year following magnificent performances in IPL 2024.

The Kolkata-based franchise updated their fans about Harshit Rana's arrival in their camp by posting a couple of photos on their official Instagram handle. They captioned the post:

"Aaj sirf baarish hi nahi, Kolkata mein Hurricane bhi aaya hai."

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"You might see slightly less experience in the pace-bowling department"- Aakash Chopra on KKR ahead of IPL 2025

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra recently previewed the bowling unit of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of IPL 2025. He opined that their bowling attack lacks experience in the absence of Mitchell Starc, who played a vital role in their victorious campaign last year. Speaking on the matter in a video on his YouTube channel named 'Aakash Chopra', he said:

"You might see slightly less experience in the pace-bowling department. We don't know about Anrich Nortje. He has missed the entire Champions Trophy, and when he gets injured, it's a long one. The Indians are good. Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora are there. Andre Russell - blows hot, blows cold when we see from the bowling point of view. Mitchell Starc used to be there earlier. Now Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje."

He continued:

"Will it work or not? It's kind of a tightrope walk. There is an opportunity for Spencer Johnson to become huge in reputation because he has to fill Mitchell Starc's shoes. Mitchell Starc showed what he is made of right at the end. So can Spencer Johnson do a job like that? He was with the Gujarat Titans for some time. He hasn't really set the world on fire, and if you leave one match, the Champions Trophy was also okay-okay."

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Do you agree with Aakash Chopra's views above? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.