"Has turned him into a fearless cricketer" - RCB pacer's father heaps praise on Virat Kohli after win vs CSK in IPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Yash Dayal's father, Chanderpal Dayal, hailed Virat Kohli for helping his son overcome torrid times after the side's thrilling victory over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, May 3. Dayal delivered with the ball in a tense situation, with CSK needing 15 to win off the final over.

The left-arm pacer dismissed MS Dhoni off the third ball of the over and contained Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja to help RCB pull off a two-run win. Dayal defended 17 off the last over in IPL 2024 against Dhoni and Jadeja to help RCB qualify for the playoffs in a do-or-die encounter.

The back-to-back final over heroics against CSK came after a disastrous outing in the 2023 season, when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh smashed Dayal for five maximums, defending 29 off the final over.

Talking to TOI following the most recent CSK-RCB clash, Chanderpal Dayal praised Kohli for his efforts in helping his son.

"Virat Kohli has supported him a lot. When Yash joined RCB, Virat would often call him to his room — and sometimes, he would go to Yash’s room himself. They discussed that over [from 2024], and Virat told him one thing: ‘Keep working hard, toofan macha de. Main hoon tere saath. Chinta mat karna. Mehnat karna mat chhodna. Galtiyan karna, par seekhna aur aage badhna.’ Virat has given him a lot of freedom and turned him into a fearless cricketer."

He added:

"I have seen many cricketers break down, especially bowlers, but Virat has connected them with his own hands."

Dayal finished with impressive figures of 1/41 in four overs in a high-scoring match where both teams scored over 210 runs.

"I’m sure even the fans had given up" - Chanderpal Dayal

Chanderpal Dayal said he was confident his son would clinch victory in the final over for RCB in the CSK encounter. The Men in Yellow were in control in their run-chase of 213, reducing the equation to just 43 needed off the final four overs.

However, outstanding death bowling from the RCB pacers and leg-spinner Suyash Sharma helped the side clinch a miraculous win.

"It’s never over till the last ball is bowled in cricket. Yash is more mature now. I’m sure even the fans had given up — my family did too. But I was confident that Yash would pull it off. And he did. His calmness was the key in this match," said Chanderpal Dayal ( via aforementioned source).

The win helped RCB climb to the top of the points table, with 16 points in 11 outings. They will play the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an away game on Friday, May 9.