The Queen of Melody, Lata Mangeshkar wasn’t just one of India’s legendary singers ever but was a huge fan of cricket. Lata Mangeshkar, had, on several occasions spoken about her love for the game and would often tweet praising the performance of Indian cricketers but her love for cricket goes a long way back.
When Kapil Dev-led Indian cricket team won the 1983 cricket World Cup beating the mighty West Indies at Lord’s, among the scores of Indian fans at the venue, there was a special fan whose presence took everyone by surprise.
While the BCCI is now hailed as the richest cricket board around the world, but at that time the BCCI barely paid its cricketers a daily allowance of 20 pounds. After the stunning World Cup victory, team India’s achievement needed to be celebrated but at that time it looked impossible.
But one of the country’s biggest cricket fans Lata Mangeshkar came to team India’s rescue as he did a pro-bono concert in the national capital’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The JLN was packed to capacity as Lata ji did a near two-hour program. The event ensured that BCCI collected enough money and all the members received Rs 1 lakh each as a cash award.
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar narrated the whole story to The Indian Express. He revealed: “Lata didi (Lata Mangeshkar) also came to congratulate us… And we were all surprised to find her among the crazy fans,”
“After our World Cup victory, the cricket board announced Rs 25,000 prize money for each player. Lata didi was apparently taken aback by this (low sum). After our return to the country, she organised a fundraising musical concert for us (in Delhi) and awarded Rs 1 lakh to each player in the team. It was a big sum during that time and bigger than what the board had offered us,” said Vengsarkar.
