Outrage over Australian national anthem incident at Champions Trophy
The expressions on the faces of Aussie players said it all when the wrong national anthem was played before their showdown with England.
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The expressions on the faces of Aussie players said it all as the national anthem was badly bungled before their Champions Trophy win over England.
The showdown between the colonial rivals was full of drama as Australia went on to successfully chase England’s 351 total with 15 balls remaining.
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The controversy began even before the match started when the start of the Indian national anthem was played instead of Advance Australia Fair.
Moments after England’s God Save the King was played around the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the TV broadcast cameras had turned to the lined-up Australian team and an Australian flag flying in the stadium.
However, that’s when disaster struck and the opening lines of India’s Jana-gana-mana anthem was heard before muffled microphone noises came through to TV audiences watching around the world.
After a scrambling few seconds of technical difficulties, the Australian anthem did begin and the Aussie players belted out the song as if nothing had ever happened.
Cricket fans from around the world, particularly in Pakistan and India have, been outraged by the blunder.
According to Pakistan press outlets, the Pakistan Cricket Board has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to launch a complaint over the incident.
The ICC is cricket’s global governing body and is the organisation that oversees the Champions Trophy tournament.
Pakistan is the host country for the tournament alongside the United Arab Emirates. The UAE will host all of India’s matches because the cricketing superpower refuses to travel to Pakistan because of the hostilities that exist between the neighbouring countries.
It’s why the Indian anthem would have upset many of the 30,000 spectators in attendance — the majority of them locals.
Adding to the mystery as to how the blunder occurred is the fact that India is not scheduled to play any matches at the venue this tournament.
According to The Express Tribune, the PCB has contacted the ICC seeking an explanation.
A PCB source has told the outlet: “Not only Pakistan but everyone deserves an explanation for this mistake.”
The ICC has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.
The Hindustan Times also reported inside details about the Pakistan complaint.
“The PCB has made it clear that the ICC needs to offer some explanation as their people are responsible for the (national anthem) playlist of teams in the Champions Trophy,” the Hindu was told by a source.
“Since India is not playing in Pakistan, it is hard to understand how their anthem was played by mistake from the playlist.”
It comes just days after Pakistan cricket officials raised another concern with the ICC.
India’s tournament opening match with Bangladesh in Dubai was broadcast around the world without the word ‘Pakistan’ being displayed as the watermark on the global TV feed.
The ICC has since said the official three-line horizontal logo, which features Pakistan’s name, will be displayed during all matches for the rest of the tournament.
There is also anger from the Indian side of the border.
Fans have hit out on social media complaining that the anthem should have been played in its entirety once it had started.
Tensions will resume between the bitter rivals on Sunday night when Pakistan and India face off at the Dubai international Stadium.
Because of security threats and political grudges, the two nations have not played a Test series since 2007 and have played only a handful of ODI and T20 matches as part of official ICC tournaments.
Originally published as Outrage over Australian national anthem incident at Champions Trophy
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