Prashant Mohapatra, the former captain of Orrisa's cricket team lost his life due to Covid-19 on Wednesday. The ex-cricketer was 47 years old when he breathed his last at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The superintendent Dr. S N Mohanty informed about this incident.
Mohapatra was the son of Rajyasabha MP Raghunath Mohapatra, who also is a Padma Vibhushan awardee. Raghunath Mohapatra also died of Covid on May 9.
Prashant, who was fondly known as 'Munna' by his teammates was born on September 1, 1973. He was a right-handed batsman who played for Orissa. He made his U-19 debut against Tamil Nadu while his senior debut came against Bihar in 1990. He was also a referee in domestic cricket. The last match that he refereed was on March 1, 2021.
After his death, there were condolence messages from all over the country's cricket fraternity. Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, and Sunil Joshi were some cricketers who expressed their condolences on the death of Mohapatra. "Prashant Mohapatra passed away.. He played many year first class cricket and was a match referee for @BCCIdomestic cricket .. Gone to soon.. condolences to family and friends.. He was a great soul.. RIP brother Prashant OM Shanti," wrote Harbhajan Singh on Twitter.
Suresh Raina also took to Twitter to express his grief. "Extremely saddened to hear about the demise of Prashant Mohapatra sir. May his soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to the family. Om Shanti."
"Deeply shocked and saddened to hear Prashant Mohapatra sad news, we have played each other quite few times & he was a good man off the ground & very good match refree, my deepest condolences to his family," wrote ex-spinner Sunil Joshi.