Rajasthan Royals opener Manan Vohra loses grandfather to Covid

Chandigarh skipper and Rajasthan Royals opener Manan Vohra had a very tense last week. His parents along with his grandparents had tested positive for Covid-19 at home in Panchkula. While the others recovered, his grandfather Yash Pal Vohra, 92, a former Punjab hockey player and sports administrator, succumbed to the disease on Friday.

“He (Manan) wanted to fly home from Delhi for his last rites in the middle of IPL. His grandfather was his inspiration and a driving force. But I told him to be there and carry on with his game as his grandfather would have also wanted. If he had come, it would have been difficult for him to join the team back due to quarantine rules,” Manan’s father Sanjeev Vohra said.

Yash Pal Vohra played hockey alongside greats like the late Balbir Singh Snr., Dharam Singh and Bakshish Singh in Punjab in the 1950s and 1960s. He was among the probables for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics but missed out due to an injury. As an administrator, he served in the Chandigarh Olympic Association and Hockey Chandigarh for 25 years.