IPL 2021: “Can give better treatment to my father because of the money I earned from IPL” - Chetan Sakariya 

Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer Chetan Sakariya has said that the remuneration he received for playing in IPL 2021 has helped him treat his COVID-positive father.

Chetan Sakariya headed straight to the hospital to meet his father after landing in Bhavnagar. The 22-year-old, who was picked up by RR at this year’s auction for INR 1.2 crore, recently received a part of his payment for playing inIPL 2021.

Speaking to Indian Express, Chetan Sakariya said:

“I was lucky because I had received my part payment from Rajasthan Royals a few days ago. I straight away transferred money back home, and that is helping my family the most in my toughest time.”

Even as IPL 2021 was being held in India, questions were being raised over what exactly the organisers were trying to achieve when thousands of people were losing their lives to the pandemic every day.

Nevertheless, Chetan Sakariya had a message for such people, saying:

“People are saying stop IPL. I want to tell them something; I am the only bread earner in my family. Cricket is the only source of my earnings. I can give better treatment to my father because of the money I earned from IPL. Had this tournament not happened for a month, it would have been tougher for me. I come from a poor family; my father all his life drove tempo; and because of IPL my whole life, was about to change.”

#IPL2021As soon he reached his home in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, medium-pacer @Sakariya55 showered, wore his PPE kit and rushed to a nearby hospital where his father Kanjibhai has been admitted after testing positive for #Covid19✍️ @pdevendrahttps://t.co/HVrTq79i9e

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) May 7, 2021

My mother doesn’t know how many zeros are there in crores: Chetan Sakariya

The Saurashtra player, who lost his younger brother to suicide at the start of the year, hopes the IPL would resume soon. Elaborating on the same, Chetan Sakariya said:

“I am the only member in my community who has earned so much. My mother doesn’t know how many zeros are there in a crore. Our first priority is to see my father back and then build our home. For that, IPL should happen.”

Chetan Sakariya also recalled how he felt ahead of his IPL debut. The left-arm seamer said:

“Sanju bhai (Sanju Samson) came and told me that the management is seeing a high potential in me, so be ready, you will be playing. I couldn’t sleep that night, thoughts kept popping on how I would bowl, how I will get my wicket, aisa daloon, ke waise daloon (what kind of delivery should I bowl).”

7️⃣ wickets from 🖐🏼 games for our Cheetah so far. 💥#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @Sakariya55 pic.twitter.com/gYf8Qrlmnx

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 26, 2021

Chetan Sakariya had a highly impressive run with RR in IPL 2021 till the tournament got suspended. He claimed seven wickets in as many matches at an impressive strike rate of 23.14 and a best of 3 for 31.