Out of competitive cricket for over a year, pacer Yash Dayal is set to return to action during the upcoming season of the Uttar Pradesh T20 League.
Dayal, who last played in 2025 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, has been absent from the sport due to ongoing legal proceedings. The 27-year-old pacer was facing allegations of sexual exploitation in one matter, alongside a separate case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However, he has been reportedly cleared of all the charges.
Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Prem Manohar Gupta has confirmed that the board will issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Dayal to take part in domestic and league cricket.
“UPCA will give an NOC to Yash Dayal for playing domestic and league cricket because all legal proceedings have been settled,” Gupta told The Times of India.
Meanwhile, UPT20 League governing council chairman Sanjay Kapoor confirmed that Dayal has been retained by his franchise, the Gorakhpur Lions, and is set to feature in the tournament.
“We will conduct the UPT20 League mini-auction in mid-July. We are looking at holding it in new cities such as Agra and Noida. We want to promote the league on a larger scale, which is why we are considering these venues. If hotel arrangements are not feasible in Agra or Noida, Lucknow will remain our venue for the mini-auction,” said Kapoor.
The first FIR against Dayal was registered on July 6 at the Indirapuram police station in the Ghaziabad district under Section 69 (Sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means etc.) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Dayal has been accused of sexually exploiting a woman on the pretext of marriage.
Regarding the second instance, NDTV accessed the FIR report, which was registered against Dayal at Jaipur’s Sanganer Police Station for allegedly raping a girl over a period of two years while emotionally blackmailing her. The report revealed that Dayal lured her with promises of a cricketing career and invited her to a hotel in Sitapura, where the first sexual assault took place. The girl was 17 when the abuse began, prompting the police to register the case under the POCSO Act.