At the time when the Indian cricket team won the World Cup in 1983, Indian cricket was not in the best financial stage. The BCCI’s casket was nearly empty and rewarding the players for the World Cup win was a difficult task for the board rumours have it that Raj Singh Dungarpur, a key player in the BCCI at the time, had initially proposed a financial reward of a few thousand rupees for the players which did not turn out be good and many senior players in the squad were upset.
Interestingly, India’s nightingale was approached by the Indian cricket board to hold a special concert in honour of the victorious Indian cricket team after they returned from England after the 1983 World Cup victory, and the money raised from the concert was used to pay the players. Every player received a sum of 1 lac each. This was the maximum the BCCI could afford to pay in those days and appreciation. Lata Mangeshkar then hosted a charity match which was helped by BCCI to raise funds for Hridaynath Mangeshkar hospital.
The singer was very much fond of cricket as cricketers and actors used to come to his father’s theatre where they played together. She was an avid Sachin fan and shared a special bond with the master blaster.
The singer saw Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement Test match on television and saw it ball by ball and not missing a single action of the game and clicked many pictures of Sachin from the television. ( she said in an interview with Indian sports journalist Boria Majumdar)
She enjoyed cricket to the fullest and played a major role in shaping its future.