IPL 2021: Meet Chetan Sakariya, the Saurashtra left-arm pacer who made his RR debut

What a debut for Chetan Sakariya who made his debut for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their opener clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and even got the wicket of Mayank Agarwal in his very first over.

The 23-year-old Sakariya got his first IPL wicket and gave off just a run at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was a fuller length delivery just outside off. Mayank backed away and looked to cream it over covers but ended up edging it to the keeper. 

Sakariya could be seen joyous as from being a net bowler to being a part of this huge league surely was a dream come true.

So who is Chetan Sakariya?

The Saurashtra left-arm pacer was picked by Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the price of INR 1.2 crore. It was quite fascinating as the young prospect, who had a base price of worth INR 20 lakh, fetched 1.2 crores at the auction.

In 16 T20s to date, Sakariya has picked 28 wickets at an average of 15.10, an economy rate of 7.08 and a strike rate of 12.70. He had a prolific Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) which handed him the IPL deal. 

The son of a former tempo driver, Sakariya's family hails from Vartej, a small town ten kilometres west of Gujarat's Bhavnagar district. He used to copy Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan's actions while bowling.