Rajasthan Royals pacer Chetan Sakariya loses his father due to COVID-19

Chetan Sakariya had impressed for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. On the field, he was superb. However, off the field, it has been tragic. After losing his brother a couple of months ago, Sakariya’s father Kanjibhai died due to coronavirus complications. When IPL 2021 was postponed, Sakariya visited his father in the hospital. Sakariya had said that he could transfer the money for the treatment after getting part of the payment from Rajasthan Royals.

Chetan Sakariya was disappointed when IPL 2021 was postponed. Speaking to the Indian Express, Sakariya had said, “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.”

Tragedy in Chetan Sakariya’s family

Just three weeks before the IPL auction, Sakariya’s younger brother died by suicide. At that time, Sakariya was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Saurashtra. His family didn’t inform him about his brother’s death for ten days. Speaking to another media outlet, Sakariya’s mother said that every time her son wanted to speak to his younger brother, she would change the topic and not inform. After he was informed, Sakariya did not eat or speak to anyone for a week.

In seven matches in the IPL 2021, Sakariya took seven wickets at an economy rate of 8.22. He had an impressive strike-rate of 23.14 and his best haul was 3/31. Rajasthan Royals paid a touching tribute to the pacer. In one of the matches, Rajasthan Royals launched a special jersey dedicated to his younger brother, Rahul. The photo went viral on social media, with Sakariya himself feeling emotional.