Rajasthan Royals on Sunday said that they will provide all possible support to pacer Chetan Sakariya, who lost his father due to COVID-19. The 22-year-old was a part of the Rajasthan outfit in this year's IPL, which was indefinitely shelved due to growing COVID-19 cases in its bio-bubble.
"It pains us so much to confirm that Mr Kanjibhai Sakariya lost his battle with COVID-19 earlier today. We're in touch with Chetan and will provide all possible support to him and his family in this difficult time," the franchise tweeted.
Earlier this year in January, Sakariya also lost his brother. The Saurashtra pacer was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when his younger brother committed suicide.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association also condoled the demise of Sakariya's father, saying: "Everyone at Saurashtra Cricket Association is deeply saddened on the sad demise of cricketer Chetan Sakariya's father.
Saurashtra Cricket Association conveys heartfelt condolences to Chetan and prays to the Almighty to give enough strength to everyone in his family to bear the loss and grant eternal peace to the departed noble soul,"
Sakariya, who was bought for Rs 1.2 crore by the Royals at the IPL 2021 auction, had said that the money is helping him to take care of his father. "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," he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
The second wave of COVID-19 continues to rampage through India, with more than 4,00,000 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s total caseload to over 2.18 crore.
