"Extraordinary Grit": Virender Sehwag Salutes Chetan Sakariya After Brilliant IPL Debut For Rajasthan Royals

Chetan Sakariya made his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday, putting in a fine performance with the ball for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. The young left-arm pacer was the pick of the Rajasthan Royals bowlers, taking three wickets for 31 runs off his four overs, even as other big names in the RR camp were smashed to all parts of the Wankhede. Former India opener Virender Sehwag tipped his hat to the fast bowler, saluting his "extraordinary grit" in overcoming a massive personal loss to perform at the highest level. 

In a tweet after the RR vs PBKS match, Sehwag spoke about the travails young Chetan Sakariya had gone through just a "few months" before the start of IPL 2021. 

"Chetan Sakariya's brother died of suicide few months ago,his parents didn't tell him for 10 days as he was playing the SMA trophy. What cricket means to these young men,their families .IPL is a true measure of the Indian dream & some stories of extraordinary grit Great prospect," tweeted Sehwag, adding a picture of Chetan Sakariya's mother's quotes to 'Around the Wicket'. 

Chetan Sakariya's brother died of suicide few months ago,his parents didn't tell him for 10 days as he was playing the SMA trophy. What cricket means to these young men,their families .IPL is a true measure of the Indian dream & some stories of extraordinary grit Great prospect pic.twitter.com/r0mISy9Asv

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 12, 2021

Sakariya was picked up by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL auction for Rs 1.2 crore -- a massive sum for an uncapped bowler. RR had competition from Royal Challengers Bangalore for the fast bowler's signature but eventually beat them to it after an intense bidding war. 

Sakariya repaid the faith shown in him by the Rajasthan team management instantly. 

The left-armer struck the opening blow on Punjab Kings, removing the dangerous Mayank Agarwal in the third over. He bowled the final over of the Punjab Kings innings, and got another big scalp in KL Rahul, who was dismissed for 91 and followed it up with the wicket of Jhye Richardson on the final. 

Though, Rajasthan Royals eventually lost the match by the narrowest of margins, Sakariya received widespread praise for a fine showing with the ball.

Topics mentioned in this article

Rajasthan Royals Punjab Kings Chetan Sakariya IPL 2021 Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings, Match 4 Virender Sehwag Cricket