Led by Kapil Dev, the Indian men's cricket team created history when it won the 1983 World Cup by defeating West Indies in the final at Lord's. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), now the richest board in the world of cricket, had no money to felicitate the winning team and the cricket administrator Raj Singh Dungarpur asked the help of the legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Lata Mangeshkar, who was an ardent cricket fan, came to the BCCI's rescue and helped raised them Rs 20 lakh through her concert in Delhi. The Bharat Ratna awardee didn't charge a single penny for the same and was offered lifetimes passes to watch the matches of Indian cricket team anywhere around the world, but the singer never availed them.
NKP Salve, who was the President of BCCI during that time, wrote about the concert in Dungarpur's biography, "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."
As per a Hindustan Times report, the late singer said in an interview to a radio station, "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."
Lata Mangeshkar and Rajiv Gandhi with the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team
At the end of the concert, the 1983 winning team also joined Lata Mangeshkar on the stage when they sang the track Bharat Vishwa Vijeta. The song was composed specially for the occasion by Pandit Hridyanath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar's brother.
READ | Meet actor, who was once Aamir, Shah Rukh's rival, never became superstar, worked as hotel manager, is now...
The DNA app is now available for download on the Google Play Store. Please download the app and share your feedback with us.
