Champions Trophy Goof-up: India’s national anthem played before Aus-Eng match

Lahore: In a major blunder ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy match between Australia and England at Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday, the Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, was mistakenly played instead of Advance Australia Fair. As is customary in ICC events, the national anthems of both teams are played before each match. After England’s anthem, God Save the King, was played, Advance Australia Fair was expected to follow.

However, to the surprise of those in attendance, the Indian anthem played for a brief two seconds before being corrected and replaced with Advance Australia Fair. The mistake quickly sparked a backlash on social media, with cricket fans sharing their amusement over the blunder.

The national anthem blunder ahead of the Australia-England game is something which the host body Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) will have to explain in due course of time, as well as the action they will take against the concerned people.

Coming to the match, Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in their first Group B game of the eight-team tournament. Both teams came into Saturday’s match on the back of ODI series defeats in the subcontinent. While England suffered a 3-0 loss in India, Australia lost both of its ODIs in Colombo to Sri Lanka, a side who aren’t part of the ongoing Champions Trophy. Both England and Australia need at least two wins from their Group B matches, also featuring South Africa and Afghanistan, to progress to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. The two sides last met in ODIs last year in England, with Australia winning the series 3-2.