Yash Dayal kept his calm under pressure while bowling the crucial last over of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) must-win IPL 2024 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday, May 18. His heroics helped his team to reach the playoffs. However, Bengaluru needed to defend 17 runs in the final over to qualify where he came to bowl the all-important over. It started with MS Dhoni hitting a massive 110m six but soon he bounced back by getting Dhoni out and then gave away just one run from the remaining four balls.
Speaking about the all-important match, Yash Dayal’s father Chandarpal mentioned that they stopped watching Dayal’s matches after he was hit for five successive sixes by Rinku Singh in the last season as well. He also shared that he prayed to God after the first ball went for a six, hoping that his son doesn’t have to face what he did last year after Rinku’s five sixes as well.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Chandrapal said: “I blamed myself for ruining another match for my son (by turning on the television to watch the last over). Dhoni can still tear apart any bowler. I just folded my hands and started praying. ‘Aaj mere bachhe ka saath dena bhagwaan, fir se wo nahi hona chahiye (God, please support my son today. It should not happen again). It felt good the way he held his nerve after the first ball. I enjoyed the winning moment.”
“Everyone wrote him off. And today, I am receiving a number of congratulatory calls and messages. Still, no one is talking about his hard work, grind and the way he tackled the pressure. The slower bouncer he has developed, the other variations he has learnt in the last year. The way he has bowled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where even an edge goes for a six. But it’s fine because in one year, we as a family have realised cricket really is a funny game,” he again stated.
However, RCB bought him at the IPL 2024 mini-auction for ₹5 crore. The bowler has kept the faith shown by the team management and he is currently the leading wicket-taker for his side this season, claiming 15 wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 8.94. Chandrapal also opined on how even the people they knew mocked and trolled Yash Dayal after last year’s incident.
“It never stopped, we as a family, literally quit all WhatsApp groups, barring our family one. Even when RCB picked him in the auction for Rs 5 crore, I remember someone saying ‘Paise naale mei baha aaye Bangalore waale (The franchise threw the money in the drain)’. We live in a world where even if you switch off from social media, you will end up seeing all kinds of stuff,” he said.
“In one of the WhatsApp groups, a person I know shared a meme, mocking Yash for conceding five sixes and I still remember what he wrote with the picture ‘Prayagraj Express ki kahaani shuru hone se pehle hi khatam ho gayi (The story of Prayagraj Express got over before it even began).” Chandrapal concluded.
