“Wonderful to have him in our side” – Kumar Sangakkara says Chetan Sakariya was a ‘revelation’

“Wonderful to have him in our side” – Kumar Sangakkara says Chetan Sakariya was a ‘revelation’

Kumar Sangakkara and Chetan Sakariya

23-year-old Chetan Sakariya was one of the finds of the now-suspended Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) as he scalped 7 wickets while keeping things tight more often than not for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Displaying sublime variations and bringing in much needed intensity on the field, Sakariya was lauded by cricketers and experts. There were even talks of him being selected as a net bowler for the World Test Championship (WTC) final but that didn’t materialize.

But Sakariya is just getting started as he still has a long way to go. Already displaying immense skill and composure, the future is bound to be bright for the left-arm pacer. Further, what was even more impressive about the performance was that Sakariya had tragically lost his brother earlier this year. Personal tragedies continued as Sakariya’s father breathed his last recently due to COVID-19, just a few days after Sakariya had talked of how money earned from IPL was helping in treatment.

Kumar Sangakkara heaps praise on Chetan Sakariya

Chetan Sakariya
Chetan Sakariya

Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara spoke at a virtual session organized by the franchise and heaped praise on Chetan Sakariya. “Chetan Sakariya was a revelation. He’s had a tough year since January so far and our love and prayers are with him. His attitude and ability to build pressure and of course his skill. It’s wonderful to have him in the side,” Sangakkara was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

The Sri Lankan also went on to praise the other youngsters saying, “We have Anuj, Yash, Mahipal, three youngsters who have been with the franchise for a long time and I was very impressed by all three of them. Yash got a reasonable amount of time in the middle, unfortunately the match that Anuj got, he didn’t get a chance to bat, but he was outstanding in the field. And Mahi worked really hard in the nets to put his hand up for selection. Those three boys were just outstanding for us.”

Continuing about the other youngsters, “Riyan Parag is also a very, very special player. He’s got a huge amount to contribute not just to Rajasthan Royals, but also Indian cricket in the future. He’s a very special talent that needs care, nurturing and development. We had Kuldip Yadav and Akash Singh the two left-arm fast bowlers who worked extremely hard but didn’t get a chance. Mayank Markande was touch and go in selection. All of them were very impressive,” Sangakkara added.

At the time of the suspension of IPL 2021, RR were fifth with three wins from seven and very much in the race for the playoffs.

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