Courtesy: PCB/Google
The second match of Group B in the 2025 Champions Trophy was held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 22 between two giants of the cricketing world; England and Australia. As part of the pre-match proceedings, both sets of players had lined up on the field for the national anthems to be played. First, the national anthem for England was played in the stadium. After that the national anthem of Australia was due to be played, but instead, the national anthem of India ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was played for a couple of seconds leaving the players and fans in confusion. After a short delay, the Australian national anthem was played.
This happened due to a technical issue as confirmed later by the concerned parties. But the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not been very happy about this situation. They have raised this question over to the global governing body of cricket; ICC, stating that since India isn’t playing any of their matches in Pakistan, their national anthem being played by mistake at the stadium seemed strange.
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Not the only thing causing a rift between PCB and ICC
The Pakistan Cricket Board was also unhappy about another incident that took place during the India versus Bangladesh match on February 20 at the Dubai International Stadium as well. During the broadcast of that match, PCB reported that the watermark which appears on the left of the screen only read ‘ICC Champions Trophy 2025’. It did not contain the word Pakistan which was displayed during the broadcast of other games. It was again clarified by the concerned party to be a mistake, and was rectified in the following match that India played against Pakistan.
Pakistan is hosting a major ICC tournament after almost three decades and will look to ensure that there are no discrepancies with hosting this tournament, while maintaining and further strengthening their relationship with the ICC.
