‘Don’t be depressed, ghabrana nahi’: How a father and family rallied behind the son Yash Dayal’s ‘nightmarish’ IPL night
Chandarpal Dayal starts his day with the morning newspaper. But, on Monday, for the first time in his life he hasn’t touched the newspaper as he is fearful of seeing his son Yash Dayal’s tearful images from last night. He hasn’t checked social media either. As soon as Yash’s final ball was walloped for a six to trigger celebrations in Rinku Singh’s household in Aligarh, Yash’s father Chandarpal had switched off the television in Allahabad.
Soon, however, he learned from his close ones that Dayal was seen in tears on television. Chandarpal decided to step in to help out his vulnerable son “who doesn’t talk or show emotions much”.
He would call his son in a while but first sent Yash’s aunt, uncle, and cousin ser, who were at the ground watching him live, to the team hotel.
We win some, we lose some. But we remain one, Yash Bhai!#GTvKKR | #TATAIPL 2023
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 9, 2023
“I told them to go and motivate him. Pick-up his morale. He would be understandably depressed. Please go,” Chandarpal told The Indian Express in the morning after a brutal night. “He speaks very little. He is an introvert, and in such situations, he can become a touch numb).”
Chanderpal, who was a fast bowler who played in the Vizzy Trophy in the late 80’s, too had to recover first. “I have been a cricketer but being a father, mother is something else. I did get a bit depressed, ‘kyun hua, kaise hua … (why it happened, how it happened), the mind was in a loop, worried for my son,” he says. He decided he will be with his son in this trying hour and watch the next game from the ground. He then called up Yash.
Chin up, lad. Just a hard day at the office, happens to the best of players in cricket. You’re a champion, Yash, and you’re gonna come back strong 💜🫂@gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/M0aOQEtlsx
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 9, 2023
Yash had recovered a touch from the visit of his aunt and uncle when Chanderpaul called him. What can a father say to a young boy, who aspires to play and star for India, but whose vulnerable nightmarish night was a viral video around the cricketing world?
“Ghabraana nahi (Don’t get scared),” he told Yash. “I then said: ‘This is not some new thing in cricket. Bowlers getting hit. It has happened to big bowlers. Just do hard work, see where you made makes, but remember this is not the first time it has happened in cricket. Big players like Malinga, Stuart Broad have gone through the situation.”
In his mind, an old cricketing reel ran. Chandarpal, a fast bowler who played in the Vizzy Trophy in the late 80’s, was once smashed for three consecutive sixes. “It was a a semi-final game here, not international like the IPL. But still … An ordinary batsman had hit me for 3 sixes. I have told Yash many times that story. We had lost that semi-final game. I reminded him again last night when I called,” Chandarpal says with a laugh.
Watching this on L➅➅➅➅➅P… and we still can’t believe what we just witnessed! 🤯pic.twitter.com/1tyryjm47W
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 9, 2023
He then told Yash that he would be there for the next game in Mohali on the 13th. “I told him I am coming there to you, I will be with you … he will bounce back. This was a dark night, and I hope this never recurs again in his life. He will definitely come back strongly.”
Yash was six when Chandarpal saw the cricketing talent. Chandarpal’s cricket future hadn’t turned out the way he had dreamed as his father was against it. “My father always used to say there is no future in cricket, I am wasting my time, I should prepare for government examinations,” recalls Dayal, who works in the AG office.” That day when a six-year old Yash played cricket with his cousins outside the house, something stirred in Chandarpal, the father.
“What struck me the most is that I saw him throwing the ball with his left hand. He started bowling left-handed, and to my surprise, he turned out to be a fast bowler,” the father says. He began training with Yash. At 12, Yash was enrolled at the Madan Mohan Malviya Cricket Stadium in Allahabad.
“There’s a saying, catch them young, and in Yash’s case, his father started grooming him very early. It helped him a lot,” Amit Pal, Yash’s childhood coach, told this newspaper.
Amit too is confident that Yash will bounce back. “It was just one off-day. He will work hard and I can guarantee you that he will become a better bowler after those five sixes. He is a better bowler than that, he knows it, and the world will see,” Pal says.
Yash’s father, meanwhile is packing his bags to be with his son. His own cricketing dream might not have materialised but he is sure that he won’t let his son’s journey stutter. “He has always bounced back from bad situations. He couldn’t do it yesterday but you will see that he will do a wonderful job whenever he plays next.”
