Lata Mangeshkar's love for Indian cricket traversed well beyond just an understanding of the sport

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Lata Mangeshkar was a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar [PC: The Hindu]

Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement Test match had turned into a grand spectacle in Mumbai in November 2013, with journalists from all over the world having descended into the city to cover it.

As part of this huge media contingent, each one of us was trying to do stories related to Sachin that would stand out and have a dash of nostalgia about it. You needed to make a difference to coverage, for only then would people watch you in all the clutter.

That’s when I had turned to Lata Mangeshkar. Lata ji was a Sachin fan and had forever had a great bonding with Tendulkar. How about trying to convince her to do an interview? Was she watching the game at home and was there any chance of her coming to the Wankhede? Had she spoken to Sachin and if she did, what was it like?

There was a prior connection with her, and it was from Sachin himself. While writing ‘Playing it My Way’ it was Sachin who had got me connected me to Lata ji. He had wanted me to speak to her and it was part of my research. Since then, Rachna, her relative and I must say one of her favourites and I had kept in close touch.

A call to her and Lataji soon came on the line. I did not have to request much for she was happy to give us some time and was even keen to watch a session of the match together in her apartment. Three of us, namely Sahil Joshi, Vikrant Gupta from Aajtak, and myself travelled to her place and naturally, each one of us were excited. This was Lata Mangeshkar after all and it was going to be an experience of a lifetime.

At times, things exceed your expectations and this was one such occasion. Lataji was all grace and kindness. She had been watching the match ball by ball and had taken hundreds of Sachin photos from the television.

It was much like a mother watching her son in action and feeling ultimate pride in doing so. She was excited about the pictures she had taken and was flipping her iPad showing us all of them. The next two hours were all about celebrating Lataji’s love for Sachin and Indian cricket. She enjoyed the sport and needless to say, she had played a major role in shaping its fortunes.

Lata Mangeshkar helped Indian cricket at times of peril

At a time when India won the Prudential Cup in 1983, Indian cricket was not in the best financial health. The BCCI’s coffers were nearly empty and rewarding the players for the World Cup win was a difficult task. Rumours have it that Raj Singh Dungarpur, a key player in the BCCI at the time, had initially announced a financial reward of a few thousand rupees each for the players which did not go down well with some of the senior members of the team.

In comes Lata Mangeshkar.

Interestingly, India’s greatest singer of all time was approached by the BCCI to hold a special concert in honour of the victorious Indian cricket team in the aftermath of the 1983 victory and the money raised from the concert was used to pay the players a sum of 1 lac each. This was the maximum the Board could afford to pay in those days and in appreciation, the BCCI allowed Lata Mangeshkar to host a charity match a decade and a half later to raise funds for the Hridaynath Mangeshkar hospital.

While she is no more, memories of that afternoon at her house will never leave the three of us who made that trip. Her singing Mera Saaya, her excitedly flipping her iPad and most importantly her love and affection are treasures that will always remain with me. She is immortal and always will be.

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