One of the most exciting and intense matches of the year included the legendary Virat Kohli. No, it wasn’t the T20 World Cup final between India and Pakistan or the match versus South Africa. Actually, the very emotional game in which virat participated was in the Indian Premier League 2024, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Chennai Super Kings. In order for CSK to survive, they had to win, and when the game came down to the last over, they needed to score 17 runs with the one and only MS Dhoni at the plate.
Rinku Singh of the Kolkata Knight Riders had tonked Dayal for five sixes in the last over of the previous year, and Dayal was left to bowl the final six balls of the contest. After the first ball of the over, a full toss, vanished for six off the bat of the world’s best finisher in cricket, Dayal was inundated with memories of that forgettable night in Ahmedabad, more than 365 days later.
Fortunately, that was the only mistake of the over as Dayal sent CSK packing by dismissing Dhoni with a slower delivery on the very next ball and defending 10 off the final two deliveries.
Since then, Dayal has only participated in two games: the Eliminator against the Rajasthan Royals and the just finished India B first-round Duleep Trophy encounter. Dayal was ecstatic after the game since his name was included in India’s team for the first Test against Bangladesh, which began on September 19, just a few hours later.
The left-arm quick could not have talked about that Bengaluru evening, when Virat prompt intervention offered him a chance at redemption, as he basked in the glory of his first-ever India call.
“As I was returning to my run-up after getting hit for the six, I couldn’t help but wonder why I kept getting into these situations. Every time I am hit for a run by the hitter. However, upon revisiting the scenario, Virat arrived and advised me to bowl to Mahi bhai.
“Try the slower ball; you won’t need to see where the ball landed if you give him pace,” he said. It’s going to be a six’ forever,” Dayal told News24.
“At that point, I realized I had to give him speed or risk getting slammed again. Reducing the speed was going to be my best course of action. I was managing my slower balls effectively and felt confident with them. It worked when I bowled it with my hand behind my back.”
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