Rajasthan Royals latest recruit Chetan Sakariya rushed to the nearby hospital as soon as he reached home. The left-arm pacer’s father Kanjibhai had tested positive for COVID-19. In a conversation with The Indian Express, Sakariya said that he had received the payment from the RR franchise last week and the amount has come in handy for his family in these tough times.
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 said.
There was a sudden spike in the COVID-19 cases in the country which led to lockdown in various parts. Courtesy of this rise in the cases, there had been a demand on putting a halt on the IPL but for uncapped players like Skaariya, the cash-rich league is one of the major sources of earning.
“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,” he said.
The IPL 2021 though was suspended with immediate effect earlier this week after there were some COVID-19 cases within the franchise teams.
The left-arm bowler was bought by RR for a sum of Rs 1.20 Cr during the mini auctions held in Chennai in February. In seven matches that he played for RR, Sakariya scalped 7 wickets.