Saurashtra left-arm fast bowler Chetan Sakariya, who represents Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has lost his father to Covid-19.
RR confirmed the news on Twitter on Sunday.
This is the second time this year that the 23-year-old bowler from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, has lost a close relative.
In January, his brother had committed suicide.
Sakariya, who was picked by RR for Rs 1.2 crore at the IPL mini-auction in February, performed admirably at the T20 tournament before it was postponed due to Covid-19 positive cases in the camps of four out of eight teams.
The left-armer was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) nets last season.
Sakariya bagged 12 wickets in five matches that put him sixth in the wicket-takers' list of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He also impressed at the RR trials prior this season.
All this made his entry to RR team easy.