India was successful in winning the World Cup for the first time in 1983. An interesting incident related to that World Cup is related to Lata ji. He had invited the team to dinner before the World Cup final.
Swar Kokila Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the age of 92. He breathed his last at 8.12 pm at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. His sister Usha Mangeshkar informed about the death. Lata ji had a special love for cricket. He was fond of watching cricket. From Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Lata ji's favorite players have been. He also had a very close relationship with cricket. Former BCCI President Raj Singh Dungarpur was his close friend. When the news of Lata ji being awarded Bharat Ratna was received, Raj Singh was with her in Dungarpur London.
India was successful in winning the World Cup for the first time in 1983. An interesting incident related to that World Cup is related to Lata ji. He had invited the team for dinner before the World Cup final. Lata ji had watched the finals of India and West Indies played at Lord's. After becoming the champion, he had called the Indian team for dinner again.
Did a concert for the Indian team
Lata didi had attended a concert organized at Indraprastha Stadium in Delhi after coming from London and raised Rs 20 lakh. It was a 4 hour concert. Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were seen standing beside him. Not only this, his brother Hridaynath specially composed a song, which was sung by all the team members. After the concert, the team members were given one lakh rupees each. In those days, players used to get less money. In 2011, all the members of the team that won the World Cup got two crore rupees each from the BCCI.
Lata ji had told in detail about that incident in an interview given to BBC. He had said, “There was a tense atmosphere before the match. Slowly the match was progressing and the confidence of victory was increasing in me. However, it is said in cricket that nothing is known when what will happen. Sometimes the match can turn. I met the entire team before the match. All the players said that we will win the match."
program to raise money
Lata ji further told that the Indian board did not have enough money at that time. So he did a special concert. Lata ji had said, “I went to London in 1983 for a holiday. There I met NKP Salve. When the Indian team became champions, they told me that they wanted to do a big event on victory. Then he asked me if you would do the programme. I agreed to this."
Lata ji had said, “After reaching Delhi on August 17, I took part in the concert. The program was supported by Nitin Mukesh and Suresh Wadekar, son of Mukesh Bhaiya (famous singer Mukesh). Rajiv Gandhi was also present in that program. That show was awesome. The most special moment was when the entire team sang the song composed by my brother. It was then that I came to know that those who do amazing songs with bat and ball also sing well.