When Lata Mangeshkar helped raise INR 20 Lakh for team India

India lost a gem today as veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the age of 92. Like the majority of people in the country, Lata Mangeshkar was also a huge cricket fan.

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Sam Abraham
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Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar (Image source: Twitter)

India lost a gem today as veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the age of 92. Like the majority of people in the country, Lata Mangeshkar was also a huge cricket fan. She often took to social media to praise the team for their efforts.

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However, she has done more for Indian cricket than just praising the team. Mangeshkar once helped BCCI raise INR 20 lakh to celebrate India's 1983 World Cup win.

The BCCI wanted to celebrate the win in grand style but they didn't have enough funds to do the same. It was then Raj Singh Dungarpur, who was the cricket administrator turned to Lata for help.

Union minister NKP Salve once revealed that Dungarpur suggested that BCCI can request Lata Mangeshkar to do a musical concert to arrange funds.

“Raj Singh came up with a brilliant idea of requesting Lata Mangeshkar to do a musical programme in Delhi to raise money for the purpose, as the BCCI was not flush with funds in those days.”

Lata ji was never going to say no for the same and happily obliged. "I said I will definitely do it. I reached Delhi on 17th August and I did a special show. Suresh Wadekar and Nitin Mukesh, son of Mukesh Bhaiya also supported in this show. Rajiv Gandhi was also present in that show," she said.

Lata ji sang the iconic Bharat Vishwa Vijeta song, in which cricketers also sang with Lata ji on stage. The concert raised 20 Lakhs. Every player of the winning team was given 1 lakh rupees.

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