Only a mother can feel the helplessness of his child and when Yash Dayal was on his haunches exactly 405 evenings back at the Motera, Radha Dayal had fallen ill watching his son pick up pieces of fledgling career. It lay in tatters after longtime UP teammate Rinku Singh clobbered him for five successive sixes walking into collective consciousness of a nation.
It could have well been an end of the road for Dayal but those who pay little heed to the ruthlessly fickle social media stood by their man and boy he has delivered.
He was earlier handed a BCCI pacer’s contract and on Saturday, the manner in which he defended 17 runs against two of IPL’s greatest finishers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, the life’s cycle was complete.
“God’s plan baby” Rinku wrote on his instagram page and who better than him to aptly sum it up.
But after that eventful 20th over, the first thing that Dayal did was to check on his mother Radha.
“Kaisa feel kar rahi ho (how are you feeling mom?),” was Yash’s first words to his mother on a video call, whose joy knew no bounds as celebrations continued in Dayal family since midnight.
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A beaming father Chandrapal, said that the son told his mom that he was confident of stopping the legendary MSD on his tracks.
“I was confident of pulling it off after the first-ball six and was calm and composed, Yash said about the last over.”
Since the 27-run win, the phones haven’t stopped ringing at the Dayal household.
Chandrapal himself played a lot of club cricket and was a former medium pacer, who retired from the Accountant General’s office in Allahabad in 2019.
Throughout the difficult phase following Rinku’s six-hitting spree on that eventful night of April 9 in Ahmedabad, it was Yash’s 64-year-old father who stood by him as his only source of support.
“Woh darawana sapna firse aa raha tha jab Dhoni ne pehli ball pe sixer mara (That terrifying dream of last season started to haunt me when Dhoni hit that 110-m six off the first ball),” he recollected the dramatic final over.
“But deep inside, I knew something good will happen this time. It’s all the result of his hardwork, full credit to him. The God has been kind.”
The morning has been a buzzing one for Chandrapal, who is trying to attend to each and every phone call from relatives, friends and well-wishers.
“Khana Khane ko time hi nahin mila hai itne sare phone calls aa rahe hain subaah se “(I haven’t had time to eat with the inundation of calls since morning,” Chandrapal told PTI from Allahabad.
“I haven’t even had a chance to talk to Yash myself — I’ve only heard my wife and daughter speak to him from the sidelines.”
With noise and celebrations engulfing the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, he could not talk properly and returned the call from his hotel after waking up around noon on Sunday.
A lot has changed for Yash since last season, not only he lost a spot in the playing XI, Gujarat Titans lost faith in him and released him.
He also fell ill after returning from last year’s IPL and the father had turn into a motivator.
“I kept giving him examples of Stuart Broad and how great a bowler he had become since being hit for six sixes by Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 T20 World Cup,” Chandrapal said.
“I never had to tell him anything on cricket, like if his hand movement or foot landing is going wrong. He’s a God’s gifted talent, a complete fast bowler.”
“I ensured that he remained mentally strong by shutting all the noise around him, and never let him go into depression or give up after that setback.”
The duo would together visit the Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium in Civil Lines daily in the morning as he would watch him train for hours in dual shifts (morning and evening) while his elder sister Shuchi, who is a dietician took care of his diet.
From curbing his sweet carvings to giving up ice cream and his favourite mutton keema and biryani dishes, Dayal had worked hard on his fitness and mental strength in his journey to redemption.
“It meant giving up his sweet cravings and ice creams, as well as abstaining from his beloved mutton kheema and biryani. Yash has not missed a single domestic match which has worked in favour of him.
“The result you all can see in his fitness and control. The RCB has also shown full faith in him and played him consistently to keep his confidence going,” said Chandrapal.
“He can become an all format player. These are not my prediction. Even the great Zaheer Khan wanted to see him in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. Hope this is just the beginning for him,” he added.
Handy batter: Coach
Yash’s childhood coach Amit Pal, who is now posted in Kanpur as deputy sports officer in the UP government, says the 26-year-old is also a handy lower order batter.
“He has played some meaty inning for UP and can develop into a good batter if given opportunities. He has shown tremendous resilience. To stop a player like Dhoni, Jadeja from scoring those runs require a lot of mental toughness. He has worked hard to reach here,” he said.
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