A young left-arm pacer needed 17 runs to defend in the final over to give his team a dream entry into the playoffs. He sent a full toss on the pads and boom. Dhoni swung him for a 110m six - the longest in IPL 2024 - as the ball went to the roof. Similar ghosts started coming into his mind of the previous season when he was despoisted for five sixes in a game that should have been won.
But Yash Dayal had enough in him this time to deny one of the best finishers in the game a dream finish with a wicket on the next ball. At the end, Dayal gave just one more and took RCB to their dream playoffs.
Dayal called his mother Radha Yadav, who fell ill watching his son in that game against Kolkata Knight Riders when he was taken for five sixes by Rinku Singh. He asked, "Kaisa feel kar rahi ho (how are you feeling mom?)."
His mother knew no limits of joy as the family continued its celebration late night. "I was confident of pulling it off after the first-ball six and was calm and composed," Dayal said.
But that five sixes thing came to his mind after that first ball six. "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 said.
"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," Dayal added.
Yash's father - Chandrapal - got busy replying to the well-wishers after his son's match-winning over. "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," he added.
The way Yash has turned it around this time, speaks volumes of his maturity and skills. RCB now head to Ahmedabad for their Eliminator on May 21 with the aim to play in the final, which was more than a dream a month ago.
