Sharmila Tagore reveals how Lata Mangeshkar raised 20 lakh for 1983 Cup-winning team

Sharmila Tagore/picture courtesy: AFP

Veteran Bollywood actor and wife of late India cricket captain, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sharmila Tagore has revealed that legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar -- who died on February 6 at 92 years of age -- had raised Rs. 20 lakh for the 1983 World Cup-winning team. The actor said that at that time the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was not a lucrative body and they didn't have funds to felicitate the players.

"She (Lata Mangeshkar) was very fond of cricket. In 1983, when we won the World Cup, she raised funds with her brother (Hridaynath Mangeshkar). They raised Rs. 20 lakh for the Indian cricket team and they got Rs. one lakh lakh each," Tagore told Aaj Tak on Sunday.

"At that time, BCCI didn't have that much money. Even for Goa, with Sudhir Phadke saab (who was involved in Goa Freedom Movement), they did a concert for Goa Liberation and she contributed to that also," added Tagore.

Lata Mangeshkar was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai after she had tested COVID-19 positive on January 8. She was undergoing treatment there and breathed her last on February 6.

A member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, Kirti Azad, fondly recollected his association with the great singer, posting a black-and-white image of the side with Lata Mangeshkar standing just behind the trophy at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi flanked by captain Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath.

Azad wrote, "Lata Didi we will miss you. The entire victorious World Cup team of 83 will never forget your contribution to the team. Your Lata Mangeshkar night at Indraprastha Stadium, now IGI stadium, Delhi to collect funds for the team. #LataMangeshkar. We are indebted to you for life."

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly expressed his amazement at how Lata Mangeshkar's voice never seemed to grow old and jaded in his tweet mourning the passing of the Nightingale.

Ganguly tweeted: "RIP ... Bharat Ratna ... A very sad day for all Indians ... when u speak of talent she was one of the greatest and rarest the country has seen ... hard to believe that 20 yr lady is no more ... well her voice sounded like that every time... lots of respect and love... be in peace wherever u are."

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