Twenty-seven-year-old fast bowler Yash Dayal will not feature in the third edition of the UP T20 League, scheduled to begin on August 17. According to a Dainik Jagran report dated August 9, Dayal — a key figure in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2025 title win earlier this year — has been barred from representing Gorakhpur Lions, the franchise that signed him for ₹7 lakh.
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has reportedly taken the decision after a criminal case was registered against the left-arm pacer at Sanganer Sadar Police Station in Jaipur. A UPCA source confirmed that the board had instructed the Gorakhpur Lions not to include Dayal in their squad.
Dayal, who has played for Gujarat Titans and RCB in the IPL, has 41 wickets from 43 matches. He was part of GT’s title-winning squad in 2022 under Hardik Pandya, taking 11 wickets in nine matches. In 2023, he was infamously hit for five consecutive sixes by Rinku Singh in a last-over finish.
The pacer joined RCB in the IPL 2024 auction and claimed 15 wickets that season. Retained ahead of the 2025 mega auction, he picked up 13 wickets in 15 matches this year.
Dayal’s exclusion comes after the Rajasthan High Court on August 6 declined to grant him interim protection from arrest in a case involving the alleged rape of a minor. Justice Sudesh Bansal, presiding over the matter in Jaipur, noted that no such protection could be given as the victim is a minor. The court has summoned the case diary and fixed the next hearing for August 22.
Dayal’s counsel, Kunal Jaiman, argued during the hearing that the allegations are part of a larger conspiracy to malign the cricketer’s reputation.
