“I bowl the main overs because the team needs me”: Yash Dayal on his extraordinary shift in his mindset

Back in IPL 2023, Yash Dayal had a hard start in the big stage when he was hammered away by Rinku Singh for 31 runs in the final over against KKR. It is not easy for any cricketer to make a comeback after such an event, Stuart Broad is one exception we can think of. One needs immense mental strength to get back up and take the field again. More importantly, it needs a realization coupled with robust self-belief that the nadir was a one-off and better times lie ahead.

Talking to ESPNCricinfo, Yash Dayal narrated the extraordinary chain of events that followed after the cursed over and how he turned the entire momentum to his sails when he was being handed the last over against CSK and was asked to defend a modest number against one of the best finishers in T20 cricket, MS Dhoni.

Dayal said, “If I learned something from that over, it is that I was in a rush to complete it. After the [first] three balls [that went for 1, 6, 6], I went blank. In those three deliveries, I failed to bowl a single yorker. I just wanted that over to finish and to get to the dressing room somehow.”

He further added, “If I bowl that over again, even if I am hit for sixes at the beginning, I will use my heart and mind. When I go back to the bowling mark, I will bowl the next ball after taking the time to think about what I want to bowl. I am confident that will give me the feeling that there is a 99% chance of my plan working, but the eventual result is not in my hands. And I will not regret that I couldn't do something. At least I would feel that I tried hard.”

Shedding further light on that crucial over against MSD, Dayal said, “I think I was at short third man or short fine leg when Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] hit Lockie [Ferguson] for a four in the 19th over [CSK scored 18 in that over]. At that point there was this anxiety in my head. I hoped CSK would need a lot of runs in the final over. There was this hadbadahat [panic] inside me that the match should get over as soon as possible. I was also thinking: Why do I always get stuck in such situations? Why do I have to always bowl the main overs?”

He continued, “Now I understand that I bowl the main overs because the team needs me. I am the main guy who can win the match. When I went in to bowl that over, I told Faf [du Plessis, RCB captain] that my plan was to bowl the yorker, even though I had struggled to get those going as well as the slower balls in that game. When Mahi bhai hit the first ball out of the ground, the ball never came back - it was that big a six. It was a blessing in disguise that the ball had to be changed, since we were struggling to grip the first one.”

Stating further, Dayal said, “Until then we were not concerned by the change of ball. The biggest thing on our mind was that we had been penalised for a slow over rate and so there were five fielders inside the 30-yard circle. So apart from my inner doubts, all these factors were playing in my head.”

Revealing that all-important word of advice from Virat Kohli, Dayal narrated, “After that first-ball six, Virat [Kohli] bhaiya told me that I had to bowl the slower ball. He told me to take my time between deliveries, not to worry about what happened, that we still had enough runs to defend easily, but that I needed to believe in myself. Only then could I deliver.”

He then talked about that all-important ball to MSD, adding, “I took a deep breath, told myself I need to use my head and bowl well. The second ball was a slower one. Mahi bhai hit to deep square leg, where Swapnil Singh took a very good catch. I didn't celebrate because somewhere deep down there was this feeling that this could be the last IPL match for Mahi bhai. He was walking back quite angry at himself.”

Underlining his train of thoughts and execution for the following three deliveries, Dayal said, “[For the third ball], I bowled a slower bouncer to Shardul bhai [Shardul Thakur], which I had again discussed with Virat bhai. It was a dot ball. The next two balls I bowled as per my plan. By now I realised the ball was gripping [the surface]. The fourth ball was a single. With ten needed off the last two, I bowled exactly where I had planned to bowl [on length, outside off stump] against Jaddu bhai [Ravindra Jadeja], and he was beaten. That was the most important ball - it was perfect, it was not wide, it dipped, didn't come close to his bat, and it was a dot.”

He concluded by saying, “Before running in for the last ball, the only thought was I shouldn't bowl a no-ball. In fact, I might have bowled from a foot behind the popping crease to avoid it.”