IPL 2024: "Will Ask Mitchell Starc, How You Pick So Many Wickets?"- Chetan Sakariya

Bhavnagar, Gujarat-born Left-arm medium pacer Chetan Sakariya has expressed his desire and excitement to learn from Kolkata Knight Riders‘ record 24.75 Crore purchase, Mitchell Starc in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League which is slated to start from March onwards.

Sakariya was among the 10 players that KKR bought during the Mini player auction for IPL 2024. He had set a base price of 50 Lakhs for himself and no other franchise showed interest in him other than the 2-time IPL champions. KKR did not face any opposition from other teams and acquired the player at his base price, which many believe was a major bargain.

Chetan Sakariya will be taking part in his 4th IPL campaign and KKR is going to be his 3rd franchise. He made his IPL debut in 2021 with the Rajasthan Royals who had bought him for 1.2 Crores during the player auction for 2021. Then next year during the Mega auction for IPL 2022, Sakariya found a new home in Delhi Capitals and also saw a major rise in his price with DC buying him for a sum of 4.20 Crores.

He would spend 2 seasons with DC before being released for the 2023 auction. When he will join the KKR camp which will most probably start from early March, Sakariya will find Gautam Gambhir as the mentor and Australian pacer Mitchell Starc as the leader of KKR’s bowling department.

Chetan Sakariya finds this as a perfect opportunity to refine and improve his bowling and also sees KKR as the best place to learn and grow furthermore. He is most excited to learn from the reigning world champion Mitchell Starc who will be returning to play in the IPL after a gap of 8 years with his last edition being the 2015 season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“It’s a great opportunity to share the dressing room with a wicket-taker like Mitchell Starc, who has performed so well for Australia and has picked heaps of wickets in World Cups. I am looking forward to trying to learn as much as possible from him on his thought process and ask him how he picks so many wickets.” – said Chetan Sakariya.

“I’m Ready For The Challenge At Eden Gardens”, Chetan Sakariya Expresses Confidence Ahead Of IPL 2024

The 25-year-old knows very well how hard it is for a bowler to bowl at the Eden Gardens, which is considered as a paradise for Batters. But Chetan Sakariya also believes that if a bowler stays persistent with a correct line-length and bowls in the right areas then Bowlers will definitely reap the rewards.

“It’s a ground where as a batter you get value for you shots and as a bowler, you will reap rewards if you hit the right areas and lengths. So it’s pretty much an even playing field. I have the experience of playing at the Eden Gardens when it has been a batting paradise as well as when there has been a green pitch. So I believe I am ready for the challenge.”

His numbers in the IPL suggests that Sakariya is yet to experience his best season ever and is quite far from reaching his peak. Although he did impress a lot of us during his debut IPL season with Rajasthan Royals, picking 14 wickets in equal amount of matches with an economy rate of just over 8.

However, in the following 2 seasons with Delhi Capitals he did not play many matches to prove his worth or showcase what he has. In 2022, Chetan Sakariya played 3 matches and took 3 wickets and in 2023 too he played just thrice and took 2 wickets.

This season he will be hoping to get more game time to realize his potential and with Starc and Gambhir guiding him, we could be set to see Sakariya’s most prolific IPL season ever.