Chetan Sakariya Was a Revelation, Wonderful to Have Him in RR - Kumar Sangakkara

Rajasthan Royals (RR) director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has said he was surprised with the way left-arm pace bowler Chetan Sakariya turned up and performed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) recently.

Sakariya picked seven wickets in seven matches for RR and conceded 8.22 runs an over.

Sakariya’s skill-set and ability to handle pressure caught Sangakkara’s eye.

“Chetan Sakariya was a revelation. His attitude and ability to build pressure and of course his skill. It’s wonderful to have him in the side,” said the former Sri Lanka captain during a webinar conducted by the franchise on Thursday.

The Saurashtra pace bowler lost his father this week to Covid-19 and prior to that, in January, he lost his brother who committed suicide.

“He’s had a tough year since January so far and our love and prayers are with him,” added Sangakkara.

Sangakkara also spoke highly of about other youngsters in the side.

“We have Anuj (Rawat), Yash (Yashasvi Jaiswal), Mahipal (Lomror), three youngsters who have been with the franchise for a long time and I was very impressed by all three of them. Yash got a reasonable amount of time in the middle, unfortunately the match that Anuj got, he didn’t get a chance to bat, but he was outstanding in the field. And Mahi worked really hard in the nets to put his hand up for selection. Those three boys were just outstanding for us.

“Riyan Parag is also a very, very special player. He’s got a huge amount to contribute not just to Rajasthan Royals, but also Indian cricket in the future. He’s a very special talent that needs care, nurturing and development. We had Kuldip Yadav and Akash Singh the two left-arm fast bowlers who worked extremely hard but didn’t get a chance, but they worked extremely hard in the nets and I saw a lot of improvement in them from Day 1 to the time that the tournament was on. Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, highly skilled cricketers… Mayank was touch and go in selection. All of them were very impressive,” he added.

Sakariya was picked by RR franchise for Rs 1.2 crore at the mini-auction this year after having spent time at the Royal Challengers Bangalore nets in IPL 2020 in the UAE.

Sakariya endured hard times in his early years as he worked at his uncle’s stationery shop to take care of his cricketing expenses.

(IANS inputs)

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• Anuj Rawat
• Chetan Sakariya
• IPL 2021
• IPL suspended
• Kumar Sangakkara
• Rajasthan Royals