Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat Titans' left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal has apologised after taking down a social-media post containing an objectionable cartoon, saying the picture shared does not stand for his true beliefs.
On Monday morning, Dayal came into controversy after screenshots of a cartoon that he had shared on his official Instagram account as a story appeared on social media, which portrayed Muslims in bad light, and revolved around the recent Shahbad Dairy murder case, in which a 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death by one Sahil Khan.
Dayal deleted the story and offered a clarification by writing, "Guys, apologies for the story. It was just posted by mistake, please don't spread hate. Thank you. I have respect for each and every community and society."
Later in the evening, through an official statement coming from the Gujarat franchise, Dayal said the objectionable cartoon and apology weren't posted by him on his Instagram account. "Dear all, there were two stories posted on my Insta handle today -- both of which weren't done by me."
"I have reported the matter to authorities as I believe my account is being accessed by someone else and used for posting. I am trying to regain full control of my Instagram account. I respect all communities and the picture shared today does not reveal my true beliefs."
Dayal has been affiliated with Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket since 2018, before being bought by Gujarat ahead of IPL 2022. In that season, Dayal played nine games in the side's run to the title in their debut season, taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.25.
He also earned a call-up to India's ODI squad for the series against Bangladesh last year but missed out due to a lower back injury. Dayal came into the limelight when Kolkata Knight Riders' Rinku Singh hit him for five consecutive sixes off the last five balls of the match to chase down an improbable target in Ahmedabad.
After that, Dayal didn't play for the Titans for over a month. But he managed to play two more matches as Gujarat lost the final to Chennai Super Kings at Ahmedabad. In IPL 2023, Dayal wasn't at his best, picking two wickets from five matches at an economy rate of 11.78.