Yash Dayal, RCB’s hero

Before the commencement of the crucial IPL ‘quarter final’ match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Chennai SuperKings (CSK) in Bangalore on Saturday, parents (father, Chandrapal and mother, Radha Dayal) of Yash Dayal, the 26-year-old left-arm pacer of the RCB team went to Lord Hanuman Temple in Allahabad and prayed. “We prayed for the team success and our prayers have been heard,” the retired father, who himself has played university cricket with Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar etc. said from his home in Allahabad.

“We all watched the match on TV with our relatives and friends and celebrated the “victory”, which eventually eliminated the CSK team from the IPL this year.”

Yash Dayal bowled the final over, in which the CSK’s ‘best finisher’ MS Dhoni hit the biggest sixer of the match but the very next ball he was out. With this CSK’s hopes of reaching the playoffs were “out” too.

A record for Yash?

One may assume that Dhoni, who would be around 44 years old next year, may not play in the next IPL season. “If that happens, the history book will record my son’s name as Dhoni’s last wicket taking bowler... but we don’t want Dhoni to retire. We want him to play the next season as well. He inspires the young players,” the father said.

“Yes, we were tense when Yash came to bowl the last over and more tense when the first ball was sent out of the ground by Dhoni but Dhoni’s wicket immediately on the second ball turned the match in RCB favour. I think that was the turning point of the match because CSK needed 17 runs in the last over to qualify and no hopes were lost until Dhoni was to bat.”

Though the RCB captain Faf du Plessis was awarded the Player of the match award for his 54 runs he felt Yash Dayal was the man for RCB. “I dedicate the Man of the Match (award) to Yash Dayal. The way he bowled was unbelievable. For a man who’s fairly new, he deserves it. I told him ‘Pace off is the best option on this pitch and trust your skills and enjoy, this is what you trained for.’ The yorker did not work the 1st ball and he went back to pace off and it worked unbelievably well,” the captain said at the presentation.

“If the adjudicators had not named Yash as the Player of the match but if these words have come from the award winner, we are so proud,” the father added.

“Dhoni's wicket was a dream wicket for my ward,” Yash’s childhood coach Amit Pal said. Yash Dayal’s all-time motivator is his elder sister Shuruchi, who is a dietician. “I have been preparing a diet chart for my brother and he is strictly following it. Whenever he is at home, I take care of him and try to motivate him from time to time,” she said.

One may assume that Dhoni, who would be around 44 years old next year, may not play in the next IPL season. If that happens, the history book will record Yash’s name as Dhoni’s last wicket taking bowler

Smashed for 5 sixes last year... a remarkable comeback

Yash Dayal who cut a forlorn figure after being hammered for five sixes in a row by his Uttar Pradesh mate Rinku last season, redeemed himself on Saturday night by defending 17 in the final over against the likes of Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.

The 26-year-old from Prayagraj was released by Gujarat Titans after the 2023 season but he found a new IPL home in RCB, who showed faith in him by paying a handsome Rs 5 crore at the auction. Dayal not only repaid the faith but also erased the scars of last season. “When I got hit the first ball (by Dhoni), subconsciously you reach that place (Rinku's five sixes off him). But I did well this whole season and I kept telling myself that I just had to bowl a good ball.”

The last over also indicated the coming of age for Dayal, who learned from the mistakes he made against Rinku’s onslaught. “The last time what happened with me, it made me a little nervous. But since I have come in the RCB setup, I have worked very hard on practice and I have delivered in matches. I just wanted to focus on bowling two balls well. Even if when plans were not executed well, the seniors were standing, they did not scold me or anything. That was a positive thing and it helped me a lot on the ground,” he said. —PTI