IND v WI: Indian team wears black arm bands to mourn death of Lata Mangeshkar

The Indian cricketers wore black arm bands during their first ODI against West Indies to pay homage to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Indian team wearing black arm bands to mourn the death of Lata Mangeshkar. - BCCI

The Indian cricketers wore black armbands during their first ODI against the West Indies to pay homage to Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away in Mumbai on Sunday at the age of 92.

“The Indian cricket team is wearing black armbands today to pay their respects to Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar ji who left for her heavenly abode on Sunday morning. The queen of melody, Lata didi loved cricket, always supported the game and backed Team India,” the BCCI tweeted.

Supporter of Indian cricket

Mangeshkar, who is referred to as the ‘Nightingale of India’, was a huge supporter of Indian cricket. In 1983, soon after Kapil Dev’s Indian team won the World Cup, Mangeshkar did a pro-bono concert at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi at the request of Raj Singh Dungarpur, to raise funds for the Indian team. The venue was packed to capacity and the Board collected enough money to give cash rewards to the 14 members of the team.

Kapil Dev and members of India's 1983 World Cup winning team with Lata Mangeshkar (second left), Lok Sabha speaker Balram Jhakar, Lt. Governor Jagmohan and Rajiv Gandhi. - THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

 

Over the years, she shared a very good relationship with several Indian cricketers - including Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and M. S. Dhoni.

Even during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, Mangeshkar would keep in touch with the members of the Indian team and cheered for them. Led by Ganguly, the team had reached the final of the tournament before losing to Australia.