Lata Mangeshkar Once Helped BCCI Garner Money To Reward The 1983 World Cup Winning Team

As the country mourns the demise of the great Lata Mangeshkar on February 6, 2022, Sunday, even the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to Twitter to pay their respects to the Bharat Ratna awardee, who passed at the age of 92.

Mangeshkar was also an ardent fan of the Indian cricket team and shared cordial relationships with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar amongst others. She not only loved to watch the cricket but once also helped the Indian cricket board when they were in conundrums on how to felicitate the Indian team which had just won the Prudential World Cup in 1983, defeating the two-time winners West Indies in the final at Lord’s on June 25 that year.

The then BCCI was a lot different from today’s board, which is the richest cricket board in the world. In the pre-Jagmohan Dalmiya era, one of the most powerful figures in the Indian political scene NKP Salve was the president of the board and in some trouble on how to properly felicitate the Indian team which had won the 1983 World Cup.

Lata Mangeshkar Does A Pro-Bono Concert For BCCI To Help Them Award Cash Prize To 1983 World Cup Winners

Kapil’s Devils needed to be celebrated but the BCCI, which currently is looking at a USD 5 billion television contract, barely paid its cricketers a daily allowance of 20 pounds. Salve then turned to Raj Singh Dungarpur for help, who in turn approached one of his close friends and an ardent fan of the Indian team, Lata Mangeshkar with a solution.

Mangeshkar decided to do a pro-bono concert in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi, which saw a full house enjoying the Nightingale of India crooning songs for two hours. The event ensured that BCCI collected enough money and each of the 14 members got Rs 1 lakh each as a cash award.

“It was a very decent sum in those days. We would otherwise save up tour money and daily allowance for that month and it came to barely Rs 60,000. I remember some people said we will give you Rs 5000, some said Rs 10,000 and it was very disrespectful at times. But then Lata ji sang in that concert. What a function it was and one of the most memorable evenings to watch her sing live,” said Sunil Valson, member of India’s 1983 World cup winning squad, to Times of India.

As a mark of respect, the BCCI till her death kept two complimentary VIP tickets allocated at any Indian stadium for her, where India played an international match.

“Just like we have quota for each match (before COVID era) for sponsors, state associations, there are two tickets at every cricket match for Lata ji,” a senior BCCI official informed.

Today as the cricket world and the whole country mourns the death of Lata Mangeshkar, such stories of her generosity paint a picture of how a great human being she was.

Also Read: Watch: Team India Players Observe A Minute Of Silence In Memory Of Late Singer, Lata Mangeshkar