Yash Dayal in action© BCCI
Pacer Yash Dayal once again became a hero for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as he pulled off a thrilling victory over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2025 match on Saturday. Playing at M Chinnaswamy stadium, CSK needed 15 off the last over in the chase of 214. Dayal, who was up against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni, held his nerves and propelled RCB to a thrilling two-run win. A similar instance took place in IPL 2024, where CSK needed 17 off the last over in the chase of 219 and Dayal crushed the five-time champions’ hopes of reaching the playoffs.
The 27-year-old pacer was acquired by RCB in 2024 and was retained by them ahead of the mega auctions in 2025. However, Dayal’s journey has not been an easy one as he is still widely remembered for the unwanted feat, where he was hit for five back-to-back sixes by Rinku Singh during his days with Gujarat Titans in 2023.
West Indies great Ian Bishop, who was commentating during the RCB vs CSK match, revealed a chat he had with Dayal on the eve of the game.
“I want to tell a story for this young man. I met him yesterday at a shopping mall. He came up to me and introduced himself. I asked him how he was going. He said he wasn’t so happy with the way his season had gone with the ball, and the one thing I said to him is that every commentator since that incident two years ago is backing you to continue excelling. And he just took it so calmly and said, Yes, sir, yes,” Bishop said on-air.
He went on to praise Dayal for performing brilliantly in pressure situation and propelling RCB to victory.
“I’m overjoyed and I know CSK fans don’t want to hear that, but this is great redemption for this kid under pressure because he’s been through Ravi Shastri so much in that incident two years ago,” said Bishop.
With 16 points after 11 matches, RCB will now be taking on Lucknow Super Giants for their next game on May 9.
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