It was back in 1983 when Team India has lifted their first-ever world cup title at the Lord’s Balcony in England – BCCI President and the board has a different problem to solve in India. Back then India was still struggling with some economic crisis and the board has paid only 20 pounds for the cricketers as daily allowances. Here Is How Lata Mangeshkar rescued BCCI post-1983 World Cup win?
Lata Mangeshkar Rescued BCCI :
When Kapil Dev and co. wanted to celebrate the winning occasion – BCCI has denied it because of funds shortage. At that time Raj Singh Dungarpur, who was the one-stop encyclopedia was consulted for the solution of this problem- “How to pay the reward for Team India?”
Raj Singh had only one way and that was to request his close friend and one of the country’s biggest cricket fans Lata Mangeshkar Ji to do a “Pro-Bono” concert in the national capital’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
And that concert was run successfully and the venue was packed completely and Lata Ji has nearly done a 2-hour program.
And through that event, BCCI has collected enough money and each member was awarded 1 Lakh each as a cash reward.
One of the 1983 world cup winning team members Mr. Sunil Valson recollected the incident and said – “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,”
He also added – “I remember some people said we will give you Rs 5,000, 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,”
That was the time when Lata Ji has saved the BCCI from sheer embarrassment and has a mark of respect for her service – BCCI has always kept 2 complimentary VIP tickets at any Indian stadium for her.
One of the senior BCCI officials said – “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,”
