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Xtra Time Web Desk: Left arm swing bowler Chetan Sakariya was one of the key performers for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2021 match against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede stadium on Monday. The medium pacer from Vartej, some 180 kilometers west of Rajkot started as a batsman but turned into a fast bowler when he was in class XI standard. Sakariya started playing tennis ball cricket until the age of 16 years. He was called for a trial with the Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals. The talented cricketer was eventually picked up by the Royals for INR 1.2 crores for his maiden IPL stint. In 2020, he was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore contingent in UAE as a net bowler. The 2021 auction was bittersweet, because Sakariya lost his younger brother, who died by suicide just three weeks prior to that.

It has been a struggle for Sakariya who did not have a pair of boots for practice. Sheldon Jackson, the senior batsman who also hails from Bhavnagar, where Sakariya trained, gave him his first pair of boots after Sakariya had dismissed him in the nets, just before he left to train at the MRF Pace Foundation.

Sakariya was the only earning member for his family for the last few years, after his father was forced to shut his tempo business due to ill-health. He couldn't afford his son's cricket expenses, and it wasn't until Sakariya's maternal uncle stepped in that he was able to focus fully on the game. When Chetan was 17 years old, he got an injury. But a lack of knowledge about workloads led to him overworking himself in trying to bowl fast. He was out of the game for nearly a year, and his family wanted him to do something. His maternal uncle took him under his wing and took care of his fees and cricket expenses, in exchange for some time to help him with his wholesale stationary dealership in Bhavnagar. Sakariya, who had wanted to pursue science and engineering, used to make bills, tally accounts, update passbooks, issue cheques, and take care of payments among other duties. Sakariya worked with him for two and a half years, until he became a regular for Saurashtra Under-19s.

A trainee under Glenn McGrath at the MR F Pace Foundation, Chetan’s biggest strength is his ability to swing the ball with accuracy. On his IPL debut not only did Sakariya picked three wickets including the likes of KL Rahul , Mayank Agarwal and Jhye Richardson, but also displayed the skills and temperament to be successful on bigger stage.