A year ago, fast bowler Yash Dayal fell ill after receiving online abuse for being hit for five sixes in an over by Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) batsman Rinku Singh. A year on from that day, when Dayal used to play for the Gujarat Titans, the right-arm pace redeemed himself in the tournament, albeit in a different jersey.
Bowling the last over in the crucial IPL 2024 match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Dayal (2/43) held his nerves to stop CSK from reaching the 201-run mark, which would have put RCB out of the tournament.
IPL 2024: Results Points Table
After the match, Rinku came up with a warm Instagram story, which was almost a virtual hug from KKR batsman to Dayal.
Tagging Dayal in the story, Rinku wrote: "God's plan baby".
Rinku's message received a reaction from RCB, who posted an image of Rinky and Dayal standing together.
The post on 'X' was captioned: "In Dayal's words 'Rinku is not just my friend, he is my brother'. Life comes full circle for Yash Dayal."
Chasing RCB's commendable 218 for 5, CSK could only muster 191 for 7 for a 27-run win.
But that's not the entire story. CSK required to reach 201 and would have still made it to the playoffs. However, Dayal had other plans for the five-time champions.
The win took RCB's points tally to 14, the same as CSK, but the Bengaluru outfit leapfrogged CSK in the net run-rate column to finish fourth.
Hailing Dayal's effort, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, who led Bengaluru's batting charts with his 39-ball 54, said: "I want to dedicate my 'Player of the Match' award to Yash Dayal. He has a golden heart."
