Chetan Sakariya: The young pace sensation's tragic story of losing his younger brother before IPL debut

Rajasthan Royals' (RR) pacer Chetan Sakariya impressed the cricketing world in his debut appearance in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In the 4 overs that he bowled, the left-arm seamer picked up 3 wickets and gave away 31 runs. And, considering the fact that 438 runs were scored by both the sides together in the 40 overs that were bowled in the match, Sakariya's performance stands out.

But as many cricketers dazzle in this limelight, not everything is always rosy.

Coming from a humble background his is a huge success story but it hasn't come easy, especially from an emotional point of view.

Just three weeks before the IPL auction, Sakariya's younger brother committed suicide. At that time, Sakariya was playing in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy for Saurashtra and his family didn't inform him about his brother's death for ten days.

"We didn't inform him about his brother's death for the first 10 days as we didn't want his game to be affected. All we told him was that his father wasn't keeping well."

"We didn't inform him about his brother's death for the first 10 days as we didn't want his game to be affected. All we told him was that his father wasn't keeping well," Sakariya's mother told aroundthewicket.com.

"Every time Chetan would call to ask about his father's health, he would ask us to make him speak to his brother. But I'd change the topic. I wouldn't let him speak to his father too because I knew my husband would tell him the truth."

"But one day, I broke down on the call. After knowing of his brother's death, Chetan didn't speak to anybody for a week. Neither did he eat. The two brothers were very close," she added.

The IPL contract was thus a massive boost not just emotionally but also financially.

Sakariya has been the lone breadwinner for his family for the last few years after his father has largely been forced to shut his tempo business due to ill-health. He couldn't afford his son's cricket expenses, and it wasn't until Sakariya's maternal uncle stepped in that he was able to focus fully on the game.

While growing up Sakariya worked at his maternal uncle's stationery shop to make ends meet who in return financed a large part of his cricketing expenses.

There were times when he couldn't even afford shoes for himself. He was gifted a pair by Saurashtra batsman Sheldon Jackson, who like Sakariya also hails from Bhavnagar.

Sakariya now hopes to buy a house for his family in Rajkot.