Rajasthan Royals' Chetan Sakariya persevered through adversity to make it to his IPL debut

As the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is underway, it is worth noting that the tournament has brought cricketers from every corner of the country to the fore, becoming a symbol of depth of cricketing talent that India possesses.

These players also bring their stories along with them. And some of those stories are deeply moving and show the odds that these men fought to reach the glittering stage that is the IPL.

Chetan Sakariya, who portrayed a fantastic debut for the Rajasthan Royals, is one such player. After bought by RR for 1.2 crore, Sakariya bagged 3 wickets and finished with one of the lowest economy rates in a match where over 400 runs were scored.

However, Sakariya's humble background and the adversities he faced make his success story more admirable. Before his IPL journey started, around three weeks before the auction, his younger brother died from suicide.

He was playing the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy for Saurashtra at the time and his family did not reveal the news to him for 10 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,” Sakariya’s mother told aroundthewicket.com.

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On phone calls, his mother would shift the topic every time the son asked to speak to his brother. However, she eventually told him about his brother's death. "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 said.

Sakariya is now the sole earner for the family and it's a truly inspiring IPL story. His father, who is a lorry driver, is bed-ridden after suffering several accidents.

Sakariya worked at his maternal uncle's shop to make ends meet and the man also aided his cricketing expenses. At one point, he could not afford shoes for himself. Saurashtra batsman Sheldon Jackson, who, like Sakariya, is from Bhavnagar, is said to have gifted him a pair.

Sakariya's entry into RR has changed his family's life after the hard times.

Sharing his story, former cricketer Sehwag took to Twitter to laud the player. "What cricket means to these young men,their families... IPL is a true measure of the Indian dream & some stories of extraordinary grit," he wrote.