Yash lost 7-8 kilos after Rinku’s onslaught, reveals Hardik Pandya; GT pacer’s return unlikely in IPL 2023

Gujarat Titans (GT) are going strong in the IPL 2023 edition. After the end of half of their league games, the defending champions have five wins from seven games and occupy the second spot in the points table following their 55-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) at home on Tuesday (April 25). So far, the likes of Shubman Gill, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Sai Sudharsan, Md Shami, Rashid Khan, etc. have done well with some contributions from others as well.

Yash Dayal, one of their top performers in IPL 2022 campaign where he ended with 11 scalps in nine games, has been out of the playing XI ever since Rinku Singh slammed him for five successive sixes in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s stunning win over Gujarat early this season. Requiring 29 off the last six balls in pursuit of 205, Rinku smashed five straight sixes off Yash to dent the pacer’s confidence. Since then, he has lost his place in the playing XI and captain Hardik revealed that he is not doing well, with his return unlikely in the remainder of the season.

“I can’t confirm that (on his chances of Yash Dayal playing again this season),” Hardik said when enquired about Dayal, after GT-MI tie, on Star Sports. “He fell ill and lost 7-8 kilos after that match. There was a spread of viral infection during that period and also due to the pressure he had faced, his condition is presently not good enough to take the field. 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,” Hardik added.

Yash ended with match figures of 4-0-69-0 during GT’s loss versus KKR. He will hope to recover from illness at the earliest and stage a comeback in the business end of the ongoing tournament. At present, Gujarat have quite a lot of boxes ticked and look set to enter the playoffs. Nonetheless, they will need to retain the winning momentum in the second half of the league. 

GT will next face the KKR franchise at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on April 29 (Saturday).