In a heartbreaking loss, Rajasthan Royals’ young pacer Chetan Sakariya’s father passed away on Sunday (May 09). Sakariya’s father Kanjibhai had tested positive for the virus earlier this week and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar. As per TV9 Gujarat, he passed away in Bhavnagar, a day after the cricketer had visited him in the hospital.
Sakariya had rushed to the hospital on returning home after the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on May 04. Earlier, he had transferred his IPL salary to his family immediately after he got to know about his father’s positive test. He had said the salary was helping his family in the toughest time.
“I was lucky because I had received my part payment from Rajasthan Royals a few days ago. I straight away transferred money back home, and that is helping my family the most in my toughest time,” Sakariya had told The Indian Express.
Sakariya’s father used to drive a tempo and was the sole bread earner in the family before his son made it big in professional cricket and earned his first IPL contract this year following his heroics in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was roped in for Rs 1.2 crore by Rajasthan Royals and had an impressive start with seven wickets in as many games.
However, IPL 2021 had to be postponed earlier this week following a string of COVID-19 cases in the camps of as many as four teams. Sakariya returned home post the suspension of the tournament and was busy looking after his father. When asked about calls from people to postpone the league, the youngster had revealed how the tournament has been a life-saver for him and his family.
“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,” said Sakariya.
