A quote goes by the saying, “A life of service is a life well and greatly lived.” This quote very aptly represents the life of the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar whose loss the country is mourning at present. We all know her contribution to the field of music, which is unparallel. But do you know she has also contributed immensely to cricket, being an ardent fan of the English sport.
How Lata Mangeshkar helped BCCI
The year was 1983. A year that goes down in history as being the most important year for Indian cricket in terms of achievements. Team India won the ICC World Cup in 1983, defeating the world champions West Indies to claim their first World Cup title.
However, back home there was a pertinent question before the BCCI and cricket administrator NKP Salve. They were worried about the fact that from where the money would come to celebrate this victory. Salve then contacted Raj Singh Dungarpur for a solution. Dungarpur in turn requested Lata Mangeshkar to do a concert at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
On his request, Lata Mangeshkar did a two-hour program in a packed stadium. The concert’s highlight was a special song composed by Pandit Hridyanath Mangeshkar, Lata’s composer brother. The song, Bharat Vishwa Vijeta saw the cricketers also sing along on the stage.
BCCI ended up raising Rs 20 lakhs, a huge sum of money way back in 1983 and from that amount all the 14 players were given Rs 1 lakh each as incentive for their outstanding performance. And for her part, Lata Mangeshkar did not charge a single penny for the performance.
2 VIP seats reserved for Lata Mangeshkar
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) never forgot her contribution. As an honorary gesture, the Board always had two tickets reserved for Lata Mangeshkar for every international match played in India. A BCCI official once said, “Like we have quota for sponsors, state associations for each match, similarly two tickets were kept for Lataji in every match.” The Mangeshkar family was crazy about cricket.
Lata Mangeshkar and her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar always used to come to the Brabourne Stadium to watch Test matches. No matter how busy she would be with her singing assignments, she never use to miss a single match during the 70s, BCCI officials say. There is also an old video in which Lata Mangeshkar can be seen watching the India-West Indies match in Chennai.
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