An unexpected debutant for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings impressed one and all. Chetan Sakariya’s dream debut has a lot of hard work and struggle behind it. The 22-year-old had to deal with a tragic incident in January when he was busy playing cricket.
The tragedy
Chetan Sakariya was in Indore playing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when his younger brother Rahul died by suicide on January 14 this year. The devastated family did not let the senior brother know about the incident to allow him play cricket smoothly. For Chetan Sakariya, it was not easy to continue with the game against all the odds. His father wanted him to be an engineer but he had other plans. His family hence decided not to reveal the incident to him until his arrival post tournament. The cricketer’s sister, Jignasha, said, “We are yet to come out from this tragedy. We don’t know how to express our mixed feelings when my eldest brother Chetan grabbed this IPL contract.”
The sister recalled how the had not informed the cricketer of his brother’s death for about 10 days after. “We requested his coach and friends to keep this a secret. We didn’t want him to be distracted. Only after returning home did he know about Rahul committing suicide.”
Dream debut
Chetan Sakariya’s hard work paid off. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.2 crore. Jigansha told Deccan Chronicle, “The IPL selection is a birthday gift my brother Chetan got 10 days before his 23rd birthday. He called us from Kolkata, and told us that he has become a crore-pati.”
Meanwhile the brother debuted in the first match of the Royals in IPL 2021. Chetan Sakariya ended with three wickets to his name at an economy of 7.75 conceding 31 runs. He dismissed both the openers with one of the being the highest run-scorer of Punjab Kings, KL Rahul.
