IPL 2022: I felt low when I was not picked but Ricky Ponting motivated me – Chetan Sakariya

Delhi Capitals fast bowler Chetan Sakariya admitted that he felt a bit low when he was not picked initially in the recently concluded Tata Indian Premier League 2022 however the team’s head coach Ricky Ponting kept motivating him.

With Delhi having fast bowlers like Khaleel Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, and Anrich Nortje, Sakariya, who had impressed while playing for Rajasthan Royals in the previous season, could not break into Delhi Capitals’ playing XI.

Sakariya didn’t get a lot of game time and it was frustrating for him to be left out of the final XI. The left-arm pacer played only three matches for the Capitals in which he took three wickets at an average of 28 and an economy rate of 7.63.

Sakariya revealed he was expected to play a lot more matches for Delhi Capitals when he was brought in the IPL 2022 mega auction.

The 24-year-old said while talking to Sportskeeda, “When Delhi Capitals bought me, I did think that I would get to play all the games. I wasn’t demotivated when I didn’t play, but my confidence level dropped a bit and there was self-doubt. But there was a change in my mental toughness. I went into a shell in the initial 10-12 days of the IPL.”

“Ricky sir also knew this thing (about him feeling low). He always used to come and talk and used to tell that there needs to be frustration, only then you are a true player. So this is what motivates you to do better when an opportunity comes.”

On the other hand, the Saurashtra bowler also revealed Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson helped him mentally when he wasn’t getting his chances in the final XI.

“Shane Watson Sir realized that I was feeling low and although I was focusing on practice, something was off. So Sir called me in his room and spoke at length about many things. That made me feel a lot better.”

Sakariya added Watson helped him in adopting an aggressive style of bowling in the practice sessions.

“He also told me about how I should approach the practice sessions to get the best out of them. He asked what type of bowling I wanted to do. I replied by saying that I always want to be aggressive and want to look into the eyes of the batter. So we started working on my body language and aggressive bowling in the nets and I felt better.”

The left-arm pacer will look to bounce back stronger in the upcoming matches.