COVID-19: Mumbai Indians spinner Piyush Chawla's father passes away

New Delhi [India], May 10 (ANI): Mumbai Indians spinner Piyush Chawla's father Pramod Kumar Chawla passed away on Monday due to COVID-19 complications.
The right-arm spinner mourned the demise of his father and said life won't be the same without him as he lost a "pillar of strength".
"Life won't be same without him anymore, lost my pillar of strength today," Chawla captioned a post on Instagram.
"With deepest grief, we announce that my beloved father, Pramod Kumar Chawla, left for the heavenly abode on 10th May 2021. He was suffering from covid and post covid complications. We invite your kind thoughts and prayers in this difficult times. May his noble soul rest in peace," Chawla said in a statement on Instagram.
Mumbai Indians -- Chawla's Indian Premier League (IPL) team -- sent out the condolence message for the veteran spinner.
"Our thoughts go out to Piyush Chawla who lost his father, Pramod Kumar Chawla this morning. We are with you and your family in this difficult time. Stay strong," Mumbai Indians tweeted.
Chawla has picked 156 wickets in the IPL and played the 2020 season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He was roped in by Mumbai Indians during the IPL auctions in February this year.
The last few days have been sad for the Indian cricket fraternity as Rajasthan Royals' young fast bowler Chetan Sakariya also lost his father due to COVID-19 on Sunday.
India all-rounder Veda Krishnamurthy lost her sister on Thursday. The Bengaluru-based cricketer's mother had passed away due to COVID-19 in April.
The second wave of coronavirus has infected many people, and the number of COVID-19 positive cases has been increasing at an alarming rate in the country. India registered 3,66,161 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, said the union health ministry on Monday morning. With this, the cumulative count of the cases has gone up to 2,26,62,575. (ANI)