Uncapped Indian pacer, Yash Dayal, turned into a hero for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as the franchise defeated Chennai Super Kings to book a spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs. Even RCB skipper Faf du Plessis dedicated his Player of the Match award to Dayal, lauding the left-arm pacer for his bowling in the final over. While it was a big win for Dayal, not everything has gone his way since joining the Bengaluru franchise in the auction last year. After the win against CSK, Dayal himself opened up on the criticism he faced after being roped in by RCB.
"When I was picked in RCB. I faced a lot of criticism and questioning in my place in the team. My mindset was only, I didn't want to prove people wrong, I just had to prove myself".
"RCB told from day 1 that I'm an important player for them. They've backed me to the core, the results you're seeing now are due to their backing and trusting on me".
Speaking about the match, Dayal revealed that he originally wasn't supposed to bowl the 20th over but a change of plan took place after Du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik had a strategic chat.
The pacer also admitted that he was quite nervous, especially after that 5-sixes episode against Rinku Singh last year.
"After what happened to me last time [against KKR in 2023], there was nervousness," Dayal said after the game. "When I got hit off that first ball, I subconsciously went back to that place. But I have done well in the past, I have done well after that, so all that was running through my mind was to deliver a good ball. I didn't want to look at the scoreboard or the result. I just wanted to bowl well. I was confident with my execution."
"I was supposed to bowl the second last over," he said. "Suddenly DK [Dinesh Karthik] bhaiya and Faf talked to each other, and it was decided that Lockie [Ferguson] bowls the 19th and me the last. I was fine with anything."