Every story has two sides. While India celebrated its new cricketing hero in Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh when he knocked five consecutive sixes off six balls during the match versus Gujarat Titans, bowler Yash Dayal and his fans have been reeling under the loss.
According to captain Hardik Pandya, Dayal’s “condition is still not good enough to play.” It has been a fortnight since the fateful day vs KKR, but the left-arm pacer’s cricketing career hit an unexpected roadblock ever since. Dayal, one of GT’s finds in their title-winning run last year, not only lost his place in the XI but, reportedly, his mental and physical health deteriorated considerably.
Speaking to scribes on the sidelines of GT’s comfortable victory against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, Hardik also shared that Dayal lost about 7-8 kilos due to illness after Rinku’s onslaught.
“I can’t confirm that (on chances of Yash Dayal playing again this season),” Hardik said when enquired about Dayal during the post-match show on Star Sports. “He fell ill and lost 7-8 kilos after that match. Some of it was viral but some had to do with the immense duress that he was subjected under. Someone’s loss is someone’s gain at the end of the day. It is going to take a long time before we see him on the field,” he added.
Dayal picked up 11 wickets in 9 outings for the defending champions last year. The 25-year-old, however, was off-colour this year. In the three matches that he played, the left-arm pacer failed to pick up a single wicket and gave away runs at a rate of 15.83.
Reports doing rounds post the match also stated that the KKR match took a toll not only on Dayal but also on his family. Yash’s mother reportedly stopped eating for a couple of days after seeing her son’s prowess being thrashed by Singh’s skill.
“These are varied moments sports is made up of. Each failures must be treated as a challenge to crossover,” his father Chandrapal had stated earlier.
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