Chetan Sakariya, the left arm pacer from Saurashtra, was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.2 crore in the recently-concluded IPL 2021 Auction on Thursday. While the youngster is elated after fetching a great contract, his journey to the top hasn't been the smoothest, to say the least.
Last month, Chetan's younger brother committed suicide. At that time, Chetan was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His family didn't inform him about what had transpired and when he got to know, the 22-year-old was broken beyond repair.
"My younger brother committed suicide in January. I wasn't at home, I was playing Syed Mushtaq Ali at that time. I didn't know he had passed away until I returned home. Even then, my family didn't share the news with me. I used to ask them about Rahul's whereabouts and they would tell me 'he has gone out'. Sometimes , they would say he had ventured out to buy groceries. This absence is a big void for me. Had he been here today he would have been more happy than me," said Chetan.
The speedster made his debut in competitive cricket during the 2017-18 Indian domestic season. Since then, he has played 15 first-class matches, one List A match and 16 T20s for Saurashtra.
Chetan was in great form in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The speedster picked up 12 wickets in just 5 games, including a fifer against Vidarbha. His heroics in the tournament made many franchises go after him in the auction.
Chetan comes from a very humble background. His father is a tempo driver. His family couldn't afford a TV set for a long time which meant that watching cricket was a task in itself. Chetan has been through several hardships in personal life but it seems that his constant hard work has finally paid off.