Chetan Sakariya has lost his father to the deadly coronavirus

Rajasthan Royals pacer and one of the finds of the now-postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Chetan Sakariya has lost his father to the deadly coronavirus.

Sakariya’s father, Kanjibhai, who used to work as a tempo-driver to feed his family was admitted to a ventilator in a private hospital at Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Chetan who was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the IPL 2021 for INR.1.2 crore had recently received his payment from the franchise. Being the sole breadwinner of the family, the 22-year-old was using that money for the treatment of his father.

Before the IPL was postponed, Sakariya had expressed his feeling to the fans that he is the only bread earner in his family and cricket is the only source of his earning .he can give better treatment to his father because of the money he earned from IPL. Had this tournament not happened for a month,it would have been tougher for him because he come from a poor family and because of IPL his whole life was about to change.

Condolences poured on social media with commentator Harsha Bhogle and former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer among the first to send out their messages to Sakariya and his family.

Sakariya is another cricketer to have lost a family member to COVID-19 after India Women’s cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy lost her sister and her mother to the virus.Krishnamurthy lost her sister on Wednesday while her mother had died last month.

Chetan had earlier lost his brother to suicide before the auctions of IPL 2021. Chetan had taken a total of 7 wickets in as many matches at an average of 31.71 for the Royals in his first ever IPL season. He had impressed fans and experts alike with his left-arm-pace and variations. Many, including his bowling partner and the most expensive player in IPL history Chris Morris had termed the youngster from Saurashtra as the find of the tournament.