Mumbai: He was an unknown entity before this year’s IPL started. Not anymore though. Chetan Sakariya, 23, mad an instant impact on his IPL debut here Monday at the Wankhede Stadium. The left-arm swing bowler playing for Rajasthan Royals picked up three wickets and bowled with a lot of life. Chetan Sakariya, who hails from Vartej, a hamlet 180km west of Rajkot, had been a net bowler for both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In the auction this year, Sakariya was picked up for Rs 1.2 crore by Rajasthan Royals.
But turning corepati was a bittersweet moment for Sakariya. Just three weeks from the date of auction he lost his younger brother who died by suicide. However, he overcame the personal loss to make his IPL debut and instantly attracted attention. Sakariya initially wanted to become a batsman. However, it was his school friends who inspired him to bowl first as he could then only earn their respect.
Sakariya made his senior team debut for Saurashtra during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season. He has so far featured in 15 first-class games, seven List A matches and 16 T20s. In March 2020, he was part of Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy winning team. Earlier this season, he picked up 12 wickets in five SMA T20 matches at an economy of 4.90. This helped him get noticed by the IPL talent scouts.
Sakariya mainly depends on swing with a speed in the mid-130s. He however, has said that he is working on his pace, but at the same time he doesn’t want to lose his control over swing. Sakariya trains at Bhavnagar and it was here he met Sheldon Jackson. It was Jackson who gave Sakariya his first pair of bowling boots and these two since then has bonded together very well.
Sakariya has had to struggle as he is not from an affluent family. His father drove an auto, but then had to stop it because of ill health. Now Sakariya is the sole bread-winner for his family.