Chetan Sakariya could not believe when he was sold for a whopping Rs 1.2 crore to Rajasthan Royals in the mini-auction ahead of IPL 2021. He was glued to his phone in a bus when he got the news. However, for Sakariya it was not easy to pursue the dream of playing cricket. Coming from a poor family, the fast bowler did not have spike shoes during age-group cricket. His father could not afford those. He would borrow kit from his seniors but refuse to give up on cricket.
His List A debut happened in 2017 for Saurashtra in Hazare Trophy. In one year he was ready for the first-class debut for the same side and picked up five wickets in the first innings of debut match. He came in the radar of selectors, franchises for obvious reasons. In the same season he debuted for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the twenty 20 domestic level tournament. Since his first appearance in the domestic level, his skills have been hailed by many. His seniors have spoken about his ability to give breakthroughs. He was amongst the best pacers for Sourashtra in his debut season. Even in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 he was unstoppable. He scalped 12 wickets in five matches with best figures of 5/11 in an innings. But when Sakariya was busy playing in the tournament in Indore, his brother committed suicide back home. He was unaware of the same until he reached home. This was a shocker for the 23-year old medium fast bowler.
No wonder he was soon noticed by the IPL franchises. He was at the trials for Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians for trials before the auction this year. Eventually the Royals showed trust in the young man. Sakariya reportedly was trained at the MRF Pace Foundation under Glenn McGrath for two years. This helped in his further growth. Sakariya has so far played 16 T20 matches and taken 28 wickets at an economy of 7.08.
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