It is only 4th match of the 2021 IPL season – we have already seen so many sixers and so many local talents getting unearthed ! – in between how would you describe that side-armer delivered by Ryan Parag squarely defeating Kedar Jadhav ? Royals employed 8 bowlers !! ~ and not many would have identified this left arm medium fast bowler who ended with figures of 4-0-31-3 !!
In today’s match RR’s Ben Stokes, has had a forgettable match. He dropped a catch – gave 12 runs in his only over and was out for a duck. In another belter, (IPL is grave for bowlers !) – Punjab made 221 as 13 sixers were hit. Chris Gayle’s hit 2 (taking his overall IPL sixers to 350 !!)- KL Rahul who made 91 off mere 50 balls 5 sixers and Deepak Hooda 6 in his 28 ball 64.
Deepak Hooda made a royal statement with his 28-ball 64 in his return to cricket in the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Hooda, who had been suspended by the Baroda cricket board after the vice-captain had walked out of the domestic team alleging “misbehaviour” on the part of captain Krunal Pandya, had been forced to missed the Indian domestic season. Hooda smashed his fifty in 20 balls, the fastest 50 in the IPL by an uncapped Indian.
Besides big names of International players – we are seeing so many young Indians emerge. In the first match, it was unusual bowling performance of Harshal Patel with figures of 4-0-27-5. In the 2nd match, Ruturaj Gaikwad flattered to deceive but Prithvi Shaw was too good. In the third, it was all about Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi. Today, Rahul Tewatia brought off a remarkable catch but a stunner had been taken by Sakariya off Morris.
Chetan Sakariya is a 23-year-old fast bowler, who made his debut for Saurashtra in 2018-19. He was picked up for INR 1.2 crore in the IPL 2021 auction by the Rajasthan Royals, and made his IPL debut at the first opportunity, named in the XI for the Royals' opening game of IPL 2021, against the Punjab Kings. A left-arm swing bowler who hails from Vartej, a hamlet 180 kilometres west of Rajkot. Sakariya grew up wanting to be a batsman, but turned towards fast bowling when he was in class XI because that helped students get a lot of 'bhaav' (attention) in school. The 2021 auction was bittersweet, because Sakariya lost his younger brother, who died by suicide just three weeks prior to that. The story in ESPN says that he could not afford proper shoes even and Saurashtra's Sheldon Jackson, the senior batsman who also hails from Bhavnagar, gave him his first pair of boots after Sakariya had dismissed him in the nets, just before he left to train at the MRF Pace Foundation. The two have developed a strong bond since and train together in Bhavnagar.
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.
IPL no doubt dishes out great entertainment !
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
12.4.2021
